


Light Up My Curiosity

by occultclysms



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Conspiracy Theories, Fake Blood, Halloween, Lake Tahoe, M/M, Sicheng the Mothman, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:48:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27774847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/occultclysms/pseuds/occultclysms
Summary: Yuta believes in the supernatural and with the help of Red Bull and being cute, has managed to convince Jaehyun to join his supernatural club despite Jaehyun not believing. One of them has to be right and a trip to Lake Tahoe will prove it.alt; jaehyun gets dragged into a supernatural club and goes monster hunting with his club mates, one of which might be mothman
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Nakamoto Yuta
Comments: 19
Kudos: 54
Collections: Sakura Mochi - a yujae centered ficfest





	Light Up My Curiosity

**Author's Note:**

> i did the absolute worst job at keeping this a secret. literally everyone who knows me will know this is me AND IM SORRY BUT I JUST COULDN'T KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT I LOVE THIS WIP SO MUCH
> 
> so i hope you guys like it too fdjsifodsjf
> 
> thank you to the mods for being awesome :]

Jaehyun is a simple man. He likes pretty boys and Red Bull. So when he’s leaving school in the middle of sixth period and runs into a pretty boy, he’s inclined to stop.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Jaehyun says. “I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.” Jaehyun’s art teacher had kept him late and now he needs to get off campus before some teacher thinks he’s skipping again. Nope, Jaehyun is just a junior in high school who has a free period due to being responsible as a freshman and taking an extra class.

“That’s okay.” The pretty guy looks up at Jaehyun through long bangs hang over his eyes. Jaehyun aches to push them away, but he won’t because that’s weird. “I’m Yuta by the way. We have math together.”

“Oh, hi,” Jaehyun mumbles, turning shy from Yuta looking at him for too long. “I’m Jaehyun.”

“I need to get one more member of this club I’m running to get the school to approve it so I’ve been asking basically everyone I know and I know I literally just ran into you, but I’ll bribe you to show up to a meeting or two,” Yuta explains, pushing his bangs out of his eyes and shoving his hands into the pockets of his vintage style jeans. A sliver of his stomach shows and Jaehyun really shouldn’t let his eyes linger there because that’s weird. So he forces his gaze to stay on Yuta’s face which isn’t any easier because wow is he pretty.

“Bribe me?” Jaehyun has no idea what Yuta means, but that still sounds pretty shady no matter what he’s implying. Yuta looks left and then looks right, presumably for any teachers that might be lurking around.

“I’m currently skipping class and you seem to be as well, so I’ll walk with you down to 7/11 and buy you whatever you want,” Yuta offers. “And if you actually show up, I’ll do it again. I have nothing better to spend my money on.”

“Alright, deal.” Jaehyun’s family doesn’t let him buy Red Bull, so he has to obtain it through other methods and it’s expensive, so a cute boy offering to pay for it doesn’t sound half bad. After all, the club can’t be that weird. This  _ is _ a public high school after all. “But we should get going as I know there’s some teachers who walk past here during sixth.”

“Skip often then?” Yuta teases and Jaehyun blushes a bit.

“No, I just don’t have a sixth,” Jaehyun corrects.

“I thought seniors mainly got first off.” They walk past the football field and another set of classrooms until they reach the outside gate which is almost never locked. Yuta pushes it open and holds it for Jaehyun. 

“I’m a junior, so it’s more like I only need five classes and they just so happen to be periods one through five,” Jaehyun explains and Yuta makes an ‘O’ shape with his mouth.

“You really look like you could be a senior though,” Yuta points out. “Unless they started feeding children born after ninety-five some chemicals.” 

“I’m born in February of ninety-seven,” Jaehyun says and Yuta gasps dramatically as they cross the street.

“At least you’re not a freshman,” Yuta mumbles, mostly to himself. “I don’t understand how children continue to exist.” Jaehyun can’t tell if Yuta is being sarcastic or not, so he laughs awkwardly and just walks along side by side with Yuta.

“Are you skipping class then?” Jaehyun asks and Yuta nods.

“I think that band is a waste of my time. I’m in that class purely because I need the fine art credit, but the teacher makes me want to burn the school down—” Yuta looks at Jaehyun. “If the school  _ does _ burn down though, it wasn’t me, you got that?”

“Got it,” Jaehyun replies. “I assume if I’m interviewed, I’m also to pretend I don’t know you.”

“Smart cookie,” Yuta says as they walk. It’s only a block and a half to 7/11, but Jaehyun almost wishes it were longer so he could keep talking to Yuta. He feels his heart racing from the anxiety of speaking to someone who’s entire aura screams  _ cool, _ but he’s also enjoying himself. It’s been a while since he’s really talked to anyone outside of his study group, not that there’s anything wrong with them.

They fall into silence which Jaehyun is worried might be awkward, but Yuta looks completely at ease, walking along without issue. So Jaehyun pretends he’s just as relaxed which works until they reach 7/11.

“I hope you have good taste,” Yuta tells Jaehyun. “I’ll buy you whatever you want, but I’m just saying that I am going to judge what you pick.” Jaehyun can’t tell how serious that is, but whatever, free Red Bull is worth the judgement.

Jaehyun walks to the back of the store and grabs a Red Bull, the original flavor, obviously. Then to satisfy his stupid sweet tooth, Jaehyun grabs a pack of mango flavored Hi-Chews. He walks back to the front of the store where Yuta stands with a pink monster and grape Hi-Chews.

“I see we are a lot more similar than I had thought,” Yuta comments as they set their stuff up. It’s like ten bucks and Yuta hands over the cash, making small talk with the cashier. “Let’s go.” Jaehyun pockets the Hi-Chews and cracks open the Red Bull.

“Even though I know people argue over which energy drink is best, and I am a Red Bull supremacist, at least you’re not drinking Rockstar,” Jaehyun says and Yuta bursts out laughing. 

“You’re completely right.” Yuta takes a sip of his drink and looks at Jaehyun. “I’m glad to see that I have good taste in strangers to bump into.” Jaehyun blushes darker, but can’t hold back a small smile which makes his dimples poke out. “You have dimples!” Jaehyun looks up at Yuta with confusion in his eyes.

“Yeah?” It’s something that people like to comment on, but generally not as enthusiastically as Yuta does. “Is there something wrong with them?”

“No, they’re adorable,” Yuta replies and Jaehyun wonders if he can blush any harder. “Like they really work with your face.”

“Thanks, I guess,” Jaehyun says, biting his lip. 

“I’m bad at compliments, just trust me,” Yuta says, laughing. “So I can count on you next week, right?”

“Give me the details and I’ll be there,” Jaehyun agrees, actually finding a part of him excited for whatever club it is that Yuta runs.

“Okay, Tuesdays and Fridays in Taeil’s room. Though Fridays is more just us fooling around with an excuse to kill all the freshmen out of Taeil’s room,” Yuta explains.

“Sounds like fun, but I don’t know who Taeil is.” The name sounds familiar, but Jaehyun has never really addressed his teachers by their first names even if they were close.

“Taeil is Mr. Moon.” Realization dawns on Jaehyun’s face. Mr. Moon was Jaehyun’s freshman History and English teacher and Yuta must have had him too, to be so close as to call him Taeil. “Yeah, I know most people don’t call their teachers by their first name, but Yukhei started doing it and now it’s sort of become a thing.”

“Sounds like an interesting club.” Yuta takes another sip of his monster as they walk back to school.

“I’m promised Ten I’d sit in on his drama rehearsal today, so I’m gonna need to get to that, but it was really nice to talk to you,” Yuta says, looking at Jaehyun shyly. Well, maybe this will all be worth it in the end.

* * *

Tuesday comes around and Jaehyun anxiously waits for lunchtime to roll around. When it does he walks from the main building over to Mr. Moon’s portable. He hasn’t had a reason to come over here in over a year, so it’s strange being back here again. But Jaehyun spots Yuta leaning outside the door and he waves Jaehyun over.

“I’m glad to see you actually showed up,” Yuta says, looking genuinely impressed. “Part of me assumed once you found out what the club was you would be put off.” Jaehyun freezes for a moment. This better not be a cult. Imagine if he really got convinced to join a cult for free Red Bull. Now that would be embarrassing.

“Ha ha, yeah,” Jaehyun replies, walking in the front door with Yuta. There’s a cluster of eight kids standing around the whiteboard while Mr. Moon sits at his desk, looking over some papers.

“’Sup, Taeil,” Yuta greets and Taeil waves at him without looking up.

“Don’t set anything on fire, Yuta,” Taeil warns and Yuta laughs, not addressing Taeil’s words at all. 

“Hey guys,” Yuta calls and no one turns around. “I got us our tenth member.” This gets one of the students' attention, who pokes his head out of the cluster and gets the rest of them to turn their attention to Jaehyun. He recognizes Sicheng, a student he shares History with and a few of the others look vaguely familiar, but Jaehyun doesn’t know any of their names. “Oh, so now you look up. Anyway, it’s introduction time.”

“Then can I give my presentation?” a tall doe eyed boy asks.

“Yeah, alright,” Yuta replies. “Can you guys please be presentable for once in your lives?” Yuta’s tone has no malice, but no one moves away from the whiteboard. “What are you hiding?”

“I didn’t think it was a good idea, but Ten insisted that we each do a letter and then we realized that there are more than eight letters,” one of the students explains. Jaehyun looks at Yuta, who doesn’t turn his head. What on Earth? Whatever, might as well introduce himself and get this all over with.

“Hi, I’m Jaehyun, it’s nice to meet you all even though I was bribed to be here,” Jaehyun introduces, making everyone look at him. 

“Oh, I know you,” Sicheng says, hooking his chin on the doe eyed boy’s shoulder. Jaehyun nods, biting the inside of his cheek. 

Yuta gets everyone to sit down eventually, revealing a large half written club name that is barely even legible. Introductions go by quickly, Jaehyun is good with names and he already knows Mr. Moon and Sicheng, so the rest come easy.

The boy with the doe eyes is Yukhei, who Yuta mentioned before. There’s Ten, the musical theater student who Jaehyun quickly learns is dating Doyoung, another person who’s been dragged into this club outside of his own volition. Next there’s Jungwoo who’s bright and cheery, clearly the happiest to have a new club member. Hendery, who is technically too young to be a freshman, gives Jaehyun a suspicious one over while Mark, another unwilling member (he’s only here for extra credit in Mr. Moon’s class and the only one who’s referred to Mr. Moon as anything except Taeil) gives Jaehyun a shy smile.

“Okay, now that that is done,” Yuta begins, clapping his hands together. “I welcome you all to the first official meeting of the supernatural club.” Yeah, this isn’t going to go great as Jaehyun is a very strong not-believer in ghosts. Or anything that goes bump in the night Jaehyun supposes.

“Can I give my presentation now?” Yukhei asks. “I literally worked so hard on it and it won’t even take that long.”

“I already said yes,” Yuta repeats. “Go set it up.” Yukhei squeals and dashes over to the computer and fusses with the projector until it turns on, showing off the first slide in a presentation that already has Jaehyun tempted to run out of the room.

‘Why Mothman is 100% Real, a presentation by Yukhei Wong’ Already off with a bang. A picture of a fictionalized Mothman comes on screen and someone snorts to which Yukhei shoots them a dirty look. 

“Background information, the Mothman of Mount Pleasant is a man-sized bird-like creature who inhabits the small town of Mount Pleasant,” Yukhei reads and Jaehyun can tell he believes every word that he’s saying. “Experts say he’d probably be even taller than me, and I think that’s the most difficult part to believe. First spotted on November 12th, 1966, which is like suspiciously close to Sicheng’s birthday, but we can discuss this another time.”

“I am not Mothman,” Sicheng protests. “I admit to using black magic to skip a grade but that’s it.” How that somehow makes it better, Jaehyun has no idea. Hopefully this gets better. 

“If you’ll let me continue,” Yukhei grumbles, staring right at Sicheng who appears to stick out his tongue at Yukhei. “The first sighting was by Mr Newell Partridge, who stated that his German Shepard got snaked by the creature. I don’t think that Sicheng would know anything about that, but you never know.” Yukhei gives Sicheng a pointed look who clutches his chest.

“Yeah, you got me. I was not only alive in 1966, but I’m also a giant moth creature,” Sicheng deadpans.

“Now for real this time.”

“Get on with it, Yukhei,” Ten drawls. “I would like to see the rest of your evidence rather than you attacking Sicheng for the millionth time.” 

“Alright, fine. On November 15th, two days after the original sighting, two young couples spotted a creature that’s eyes ‘glowed red’ and was a ‘large flying man with ten-foot wings.’ The image to the left was taken in 2016, clearly showing Mothman flying above the town.”

“Any sightings since 2016?” Mark asks. Jaehyun can’t decide if he thinks whether or not Mark is a believer, but he’s taking notes which makes it seem quite probable. 

“Not that I am aware of,” Yukhei replies.

“Not to wildly stoke Yukhei’s conspiracy theories,” Jungwoo begins. “But I met Sicheng in 2016.” Yukhei doesn’t say anything but his eyes light up. “I’m just saying.” 

“And I met Ten in 2019 which means he has to be the Loch Ness Monster,” Doyoung adds on, rolling his eyes. “That’s circumstantial evidence at best. Next time you catch Sicheng looking like half-moth half-human, let me know.”

“I fucking will,” Yukhei seethes. After realizing he said a swear word he looks over at Mr. Moon who is absorbed in his work. “Can I please finish? I only have two more slides and I’m eighty percent sure Sicheng isn’t mentioned on them.” 

“Come on guys, let Yukhei finish,” Yuta directs. Everyone shuts up, even though some people(Sicheng)clearly have more to say on the matter. Yukhei changes the slide and Jaehyun nearly chokes on his spit.

“You don’t make pizza out of fake things,” Yukhei says and Ten raises his hand. “Yes, Ten?”

“I’ve seen Jesus pizza and I don’t think Jesus was real,” Ten replies. and Jungwoo gives Ten a look.

“Jesus was a real person whether or not you’re an atheist. Like he walked around and was a hippie essentially,” Jungwoo points out.

“What do you mean Jesus is real?” Ten asks. “No one ever told me this.” 

“Jesus is real— he’s dead but he’s real,” Jungwoo says and Ten sits there stunned.

“I rest my case,” Yukhei exclaims.

“Yeah, I can’t even argue with this, Mothman is real.” Ten waves a piece of paper like white flag. “I formally give up.” Yukhei cheers from the front of the room and changes to his next slide.

“Look at this,” Yukhei says, pointing dramatically at the front of the classroom. “This is a statue of Mothman, which only cements the fact that he’s real.” Yukhei hits the slide button again and Mothman slides away to reveal Benjamin Franklin.

“What if Benjamin Franklin is Mothman?” Hendery asks and Yukhei glares at him. 

“Raise your hand bro.” Hendery reluctantly raises his hand and Yukhei calls on him. “Yes, Hendery?”

“What if Benny Frank over there is Mothman and not Sicheng?” Yukhei gasps and points to Sicheng who only raises an eyebrow.

“I raise you this— what if Sicheng is Benjamin Franklin?” Yukhei counters.

“Benjamin Franklin died before 1800,” Yuta chimes in. “I’m all for conspiracy theory, but what did Sicheng do during the nineteenth century and half of the twentieth?”

“That’s a good question, which I will get to the bottom of once I finish my investigation,” Yukhei replies and Yuta nods, satisfied with Yukhei’s answer. Jaehyun spares him a glance, expecting him to lean over and whisper that this club was only made for Yukhei’s sake and he really doesn’t believe in any of this. “And to conclude this presentation.” Yukhei flicks to the last slide. “No questions from Doyoung, but anyone else can ask them.” 

Doyoung leans over to Ten and whispers something in his ear. Yukhei raises his hand to object, but Ten counters and stands up himself. He’s older than Yukhei but he’s several inches smaller.

“I have a question,” Ten declares. “Doyoung has one too, but I’m going to ask mine first.”

“Okay, fine,” Yukhei relents.

“First off, if Sicheng is Mothman, how does he shapeshift into moth form?” Ten asks. “And Doyoung says that there’s statues and pizza of plenty of things that don’t exist, like ghosts and the Statue of Liberty.”

“He probably takes his shirt off and then wings can extend from his back which then cover him in mothy-ness,” Yukhei replies. “And ghosts are real, this is a supernatural club. The Statue of Liberty is just the humanized version of a set of ideals which are real.” Yukhei mimes dropping a mic and Doyoung mutters something.

“How is he so good at this?” Jaehyun whispers to himself. Granted, he doesn’t believe in Mothman after Yukhei’s presentation, but he can certainly see how someone could be convinced by him. It’s a bit ridiculous, but Jaehyun is a least a tiny bit suspicious of Sicheng now. 

“He’s been on debate for the past four years,” Yuta replies, leaning over to Jaehyun, looking every bit as pretty as he did last week and Jaehyun is reminded of why he’s actually here. Curse Jaehyun’s love of men. And Red Bull. Sicheng bursts out laughing and Jaehyun’s attention is drawn back to the front of the room.

“Sicheng, stop laughing at me, Mothman is real!” Yukhei exclaims.

“I’m still not convinced by the Jesus pizza logic,” Sicheng replies. “Convince me Jesus was real and I’ll turn into Mothman right now.” Yukhei looks around the room, like he isn’t sure Sicheng basically just confessed to being Mothman. But no one thinks Sicheng is serious, so there’s no point to Yukhei’s dramatism. 

“Okay, Taeil,” Yukhei calls. “Jesus was real, right?”

“Yes, he was,” Mr. Moon replies. “Sicheng, you’ve taken history before and should know this.”

“Show me his bones,” Sicheng counters, miming mic dropping to mock Yukhei and putting his feet up on the desk.

“I will kick you out,” Yukhei threatens.

“Okay, freshie,” Sicheng says, smirking. 

“You are barely older than me,” Yukhei points out and Sicheng sticks out his tongue. But before Yukhei can open his mouth and say something else, Mr. Moon interjects.

“As the only adult in the room, I’m going to stop this conversation right now before one of you kills the other. If you’re gonna do that, do it outside at the very least,” Mr. Moon says and Jaehyun bites the inside of his cheek to prevent himself from laughing.

“This isn’t over,” Yukhei says, eyeing Sicheng suspiciously as he walks away. The lunch bell rings and Jaehyun grabs his backpack, standing up and ready to make a beeline to math without having to talk to Yuta about anything that just happened. But Yuta grabs Jaehyun’s shoulder.

“Hey, we have the same class next, do you want to walk with me?” Yuta asks, smiling at Jaehyun. Fine. He can keep it together for five minutes.

“Sure,” Jaehyun replies. They walk out of the portable and towards the main building. 

“So do you want to share your thoughts of your first meeting or are you worried you’re gonna hurt my feelings?” Yuta asks, teasing tone yet again.

“I didn’t realize that this would be a supernatural club,” Jaehyun begins hesitantly.

“And you don’t believe in ghosts or anything?” Yuta finishes. Jaehyun nods, ears feeling just a tinge hot under Yuta’s attention. 

“Not in the slightest,” Jaehyun confirms.

“That isn’t a big deal.” Jaehyun’s brows scrunch up and Yuta laughs. “Do you really think Doyoung believes in any of this stuff? Mark might believe in ghosts, but doesn’t believe in all the crazy stuff that comes out of Yukhei’s mouth. I’m half convinced that Sicheng is only here to tell Yukhei all of his Mothman theories are complete bullshit. It entertains him more than anything else ever could.” Jaehyun supposes that Yuta might have a point here. 

“That does make me feel a bit better,” Jaehyun admits. “But before I get too sucked into this, is there anything else that I need to know about going forward?” Yuta bites his lip and Jaehyun’s stomach sinks.

“Oh don’t look at me like that,” Yuta says, hitting Jaehyun’s arm lightly and breaking eye contact. “It’s just that we do a trip over winter break up to Lake Tahoe to look for Tahoe Tessie, a creature that lives up in Lake Tahoe.” Jaehyun stares at Yuta who bites his lip.

“Are you serious?” Jaehyun asks and Yuta nods. “Do I have to help pay for it?”

“Not that much, but yeah like fifty bucks,” Yuta admits. Okay, fifty bucks isn’t bad. Jaehyun can work with that. “Taeil has a cabin up on the lake and takes us up there each year and it’s actually really fun because we do more than just monster hunt.” An image of Yuta kissing Jaehyun under the stars on the beach pops into Jaehyun’s mind and he quickly shoves the thought away.

“Okay, I can handle that.” Yuta breaks into a huge smile.

“You’ll have tons of fun, I pinky promise.”

* * *

Jaehyun shows up on Friday, already preparing for the worst, but all he finds is Yukhei standing over Doyoung with a magnifying glass while everyone else is chatting amongst themselves. It’s almost too normal, so Jaehyun is bracing for something to happen.

“It is one week until October,” Yuta exclaims as he walks into the classroom. “Which means my annual assistant must be chosen.”

“I’d like to opt out because I’m very busy figuring out whether or not Doyoung is a demon,” Yukhei pipes up. “Doyoung are you one hundred percent sure you’re not a demon?”

“I don’t know, Yukhei. Maybe you should work that out on your own,” Doyoung replies.

“See, Yuta! I’m very busy.” Yukhei holds the magnifying glass to Doyoung’s mouth who frowns at him.

“Okay, fine those two are off duty this year,” Yuta decides, scanning the room. Jaehyun has no idea what being Yuta’s assistant entails, but based on the reaction from Yukhei, it can’t be good. And Yukhei is a freshman, what would he even know about being an assistant? “Whoever else has a good excuse come forward now, so I can pick someone.”

“I have drama rehearsals all month because we’re putting on our play in December and somehow we’re already behind,” Ten says. That’s probably the only actual good excuse that anyone is gonna have if Jaehyun’s honest. Everyone else is quiet, probably fearing that speaking will get them chosen.

“Jaehyun is new to the club and needs the experience,” Jungwoo says and Jaehyun looks at Jungwoo in shock. 

“Not cool,” Jaehyun replies. “I vote Jungwoo now should be assistant due to the fact that he’s trying to throw me under the bus.”

“That’s a nice sentiment,” Yuta begins and Jaehyun braces for the worst. “But I think you could use it more than Jungwoo.” Jaehyun sighs. “Besides, you’re much cuter than Jungwoo.” Jaehyun looks at Jungwoo who’s biting his cheek, resisting the urge to argue with Yuta.

“Okay, fine,” Jaehyun relents. How bad can it really be?

“Great, I’ll be skipping sixth to take you with me to Home Depot,” Yuta decides.

“Legally, I can’t approve of you skipping school, but if anyone asks, I wasn’t listening,” Mr. Moon chimes in.

“Thanks Taeil, you’re the best.”

“I’m aware.” 

* * *

Sixth period comes around and Jaehyun waits by the front of the school for Yuta. He isn’t even sure why they need to go to Home Depot of all places, but Yuta shows up, hands in his pockets and smiling.

“Good afternoon, Jaehyun,” Yuta greets like they didn’t see each other an hour ago.

“Greeting, Yuta,” Jaehyun replies. “So we’re going to Home Depot, huh?”

“That we are.” Yuta produces a set of keys from the pocket of his jeans and dangles them in front of Jaehyun. “Ready to go?”

“If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be out here,” Jaehyun retorts as the two of them walk towards Yuta’s car. It’s a beat up minivan that he probably got from his parents. They both climb in the car and Yuta turns the car on.

“Before you say anything about my choice of car,” Yuta begins, buckling his seatbelt. “Know this is intentional as we have to pick up some decently big stuff.”

“You’re making me nervous,” Jaehyun says. “We’re not picking up dead people, right?” Jaehyun puts his seatbelt on and crosses his legs.

“Have you ever been to Home Depot before?” Yuta asks, driving away from the school. “Because if you haven’t been there in September or October, than it is your own fault for not knowing what we are gonna pick up.”

“Why would I even need to go to Home Depot though? I am not a middle aged man trying to punish my kids.” Yuta snorts and then clamps a hand over his mouth.

“Ignore that sound I made— but anyways, you’re funny. Even if you are still wrong. Plenty of people go to Home Depot for all sorts of stuff. It’s only seventy percent of the people in there who are even middle aged, let alone fathers, let alone with their actual children with them,” Yuta explains. Clearly, he’ll defend Home Depot until his last breath which is quite endearing if Jaehyun didn’t hate going to Home Depot. Something about the smell of wood in the air rubs him the wrong way.

“I still think that we are secretly going to a cemetery to steal bodies or you’re gonna turn me into a plummer,” Jaehyun says.

“Uh huh.” They bicker good naturedly the rest of the way there, Yuta throwing the car into park before hopping out. Jaehyun climbs out after him and Yuta already has one of those large orange not cart things. He has no idea what they are called, but they’re like a platform with curved bar handles. That doesn’t really clarify anything, but Jaehyun can only really stare at it while Yuta looks at him judgmentally.

“Can you quit staring so we can go look around?” Yuta asks and Jaehyun flicks his attention up to Yuta and grins sheepishly. 

“Yes, Yuta dearest,” Jaehyun replies, walking alongside Yuta who’s cheeks might be a little bit pink, but Jaehyun doesn’t know if he’s imagining that or not. Once they walk into the store, Jaehyun finally realizes why they’re here. There’s a huge wall full of blow up Halloween decorations while the floor beneath it is covered in even more decorations.

“I see you’ve understood why we are here,” Yuta comments, pushing the not cart over towards the decor.

“Yeah, I get it now,” Jaehyun mumbles, still in a bit of awe about the sheer amount of things. “So what are you getting?”

“No idea.” Yuta looks at some gravestones for a minute before putting them on the rolling platform. “My parents really like it when I go all out for Halloween and this is my last year at home, so my mom said to get anything I thought would make this year extra special.” 

“Oh, that’s cool,” Jaehyun says. “I think the green boogie man from Nightmare Before Christmas would be a good touch if my opinion matters here.” 

“Ah, yes, Oogie Boogie. I thought he was such a cool character. Like he’s evil, but also cool because bugs.” Yuta replies. 

“I agree, which is why he should go in your yard.” Yuta laughs and they walk over there, putting Oogie Boogie on the not cart.

In the end, the orange platform is stacked full of stuff and the total is more than Jaehyun wishes it were despite it not being his money. Jaehyun pushes the not cart out of the store and helps Yuta lift everything into the back of the minivan. 

“Do you want to help me bring this all back to my house or should I just drop you off at home?” Yuta asks. “I don’t care either way, mainly because I don’t start setting up for a few days after my Home Depot run. I have to plan everything out to make sure it’ll all go the way I want it and stuff.” 

“I think my mom is going to want me home, but this was honestly really fun,” Jaehyun confesses, pushing the cart back to where it’s supposed to go. They both climb in the car before Yuta gets a chance to reply.

“Yeah, I had a lot of fun with you too.” 

* * *

Later in the week Jaehyun is at Yuta’s house for the first time. The outside is impressive and there’s plenty of yard space for all the decorations that Yuta wants to put up. Everything went really smoothly until Yuta spilled some of his bucket of blood on Jaehyun’s pants.

“Shit,” Yuta mutters. “Shit shit shit. I’m so sorry, Jaehyun.” 

“I think it’ll be okay,” Jaehyun reassures. He isn’t overly attached to these pants anyway, so it’s not a huge deal. 

“I’m still really sorry,” Yuta gushes.

“Do you have a towel or something for this?”

“Yes, but—” Uh oh. “My parents will actually kill me if I get even a drop of this stuff inside and a towel isn’t enough if your pants are still on. I had a similar problem last year and no matter how much I scrubbed with a towel, blood was still dripping off my shirt, so I just had to ditch my shirt outside.” 

“You’re not saying…” 

“I am in fact saying.” Jaehyun sighs. He looks both ways, hoping that there’s no one outside that can see them. Thankfully, this is a quiet street and there’s large trees in Yuta’s yard that at least partially obstructs them from view. “I promise there’s no one out here right now.” 

Here goes nothing then. Jaehyun undoes his belt before dropping his jeans. Very little of the blood soaked through his jeans, so there’s two light red splotches on his thighs but it could be worse. 

“I really hope you’re right about that because if someone walked by, they would probably be very confused by this image,” Jaehyun points out and Yuta laughs, face nearly all pink from embarrassment.

“I’m  _ really _ sorry, Jaehyun,” Yuta says for the millionth time. “You can have some of my pants if you want. Well, you need some for right now at the very least.”

“Can we go inside yet?” Jaehyun asks. “I’m gonna freeze my balls off.”

“Yeah, I don’t think you’re gonna drip any blood inside, so let's go.” Yuta ushers Jaehyun inside. Jaehyun looks around and they are in the kitchen, but he doesn’t have time to linger there as Yuta is walking through the kitchen, peeking out from behind the door.

“What are you doing?” Jaehyun asks, whispering to be on the safe side.

“Making sure my parents aren’t going to see us.” Jaehyun stiffens. Sure, the neighbors seeing him like this would be embarrassing, but he’s probably never going to speak to any of them. Yuta’s parents on the other hand, Jaehyun would definitely have to see at Halloween and probably at other times due to his sheer terrible luck. “Don’t worry the coast is clear.” 

Yuta reaches back and grabs Jaehyun’s hand and pulls him through the hallway and then pushes Jaehyun up the stairs while Yuta checks both front rooms for any parents. Jaehyun takes the stairs as quietly as he can, looking around when he hits the landing for anyone. There’s three doors on the left and one at the end of the hallway on the right. 

Jaehyun hesitantly steps out onto the wooden floors and off the carpet of the landing. All the doors are closed which is both a blessing and a curse as someone won’t see him without opening a door, giving him prep time and that he doesn’t know which room is the one Yuta is guiding him towards.

“Yuta,” Jaehyun hisses. “Where am I going?”

“The last door at the end of the hallway.” Yuta slowly walks up the last few stairs before coming to put his hands on Jaehyun’s waist and push him towards the final room. Jaehyun is in the room and Yuta closes the door behind them, slouching back against it.

“That is the closest I will ever get to being a world class secret agent,” Jaehyun mumbles and Yuta laughs. 

“You did great. Now let me get that last bit of blood off you and then I’ll give you some pants.” Jaehyun sits in Yuta’s desk chair and takes a good look around the room while Yuta disappears into his bathroom. The walls are a dark blue-green, Yuta’s bed is pushed into the corner of the room underneath two large front windows and his dresser is parallel to the desk that Jaehyun is sitting in. And to Jaehyun’s right is two doors, one which Jaehyun can see into is Yuta's bathroom and the other is presumably his closet. 

“Find whatever you’re looking for?” Jaehyun asks. There’s a journal on Yuta’s desk that looks like a diary. Part of him is really tempted to look inside, but Yuta is right there and Jaehyun shouldn’t look through his things. As much as his curiosity wants him to, it’s an invasion of privacy.

“Yep.” Yuta exits the bathroom with a white baby wipe and comes to kneel down in front of Jaehyun, rubbing it over the blood spots. “This should make it all go away so you won’t have random blood stained legs.” Yuta looks up at Jaehyun and smiles. Jaehyun’s heart catches in his throat for no reason other than Yuta looks really pretty from this angle. “Okay, you’re done.” Jaehyun nods and Yuta stands again to toss out the wipe.

“I think I might have a larger waist than you, so do you have any like basketball shorts?” Jaehyun asks. It’s not like he has been ogling Yuta  _ that _ much, but Yuta’s waist just seems so tiny and holdable. That’s a pretty gay thought, Jaehyun thinks.

“Yeah, I’ll grab a pair.” Yuta returns a moment later with a pair of school basketball shorts. “These cool?”

“Yeah.” Yuta tosses them to Jaehyun and Jaehyun stands, pulling them on over his legs. How are Yuta’s shorts like two inches higher on him when they are basically the same height? Whatever, Yuta just saw Jaehyun’s entire leg, showing a bit more of his thigh isn’t going to be a big deal. 

Yuta plops down on his bed and looks out the window. Jaehyun sits down next to him and follows his gaze. The beginnings of the haunted house are starting to take shape in Yuta’s yard. 

“I’m really liking how things are going,” Yuta says. 

“I think we did a really good job so far.” 

“Yeah. Say, do you want to go trick or treating with me?” Yuta turns his head to look at Jaehyun and Jaehyun notices just how close they are to each other. 

“I would love to.”

* * *

Halloween comes around within a few weeks. Jaehyun helps Yuta finish polishing everything and he shows up to Yuta’s house around one to help with any last decorations. He had decided to be Woody for Halloween because he loves Toy Story and because it’s something that other people are unlikely to dress up as. Yuta also wouldn’t tell Jaehyun what he’s dressing up as, but if Jaehyun had to guess he would pick a classic monster or other supernatural creature.

“Yuta?” Jaehyun calls. Coming in through the front door of Yuta’s house somehow feels weirder than coming in through the kitchen, but he heads up the stairs without anyone replying. Yuta had made it clear that if he’s asking Jaehyun to come over, he can waltz right in. 

Yuta’s parents were nice enough and decided to give Yuta some space before the party later tonight. Jaehyun wasn’t sure if Yuta’s Halloween stresses were normal, but he can at least offer his support until the party gets into swing. Once everyone is settled, Yuta and him are going to go trick or treating around the block before coming back to the party.

“I’m in here.” Jaehyun opens the door of Yuta’s bedroom to find Yuta half dressed in his costume. “I could use some help with this.” Yuta has flowing black slacks on and is struggling with a cropped black corset.

“What do I do?” Jaehyun asks. The point of the corset comes down to right above Yuta’s navel and the top is straight across the top of his chest. His arms are holding it up behind him, so Jaehyun comes to stand at the back of him, only to be faced with ribbons.

“Basically pull it tighter so it actually stays up and I don’t flash anyone my nipples,” Yuta says. Jaehyun grabs the back of the corset and Yuta’s hands move to the front and adjust it a bit. “Okay now start from the top and pull them as tight as you can. I will tell you if they are too tight.” 

“Got it.” Jaehyun thinks this is just like tying a pair of shoes. Except on a person. With that in mind, Jaehyun figures out how to pull it tight all the way down to the bottom of it. “Okay is that tight enough?”

“Yeah, now can you tie the remaining ribbon in a double knotted bow? I don’t want this to come loose during the night at all.” Jaehyun nods even though Yuta can’t see him and ties it as directed. There’s a little bit of excess hanging down, but it only just brushes the hem of Yuta’s pants.

“You’re all done.” 

“Perfect.” Yuta turns around and smiles at Jaehyun. “Thank you. Now I have to put on my makeup before I can put my jacket on.” 

“Makeup?” 

“I’m a vampire.” Yuta pretends to bite the air and Jaehyun laughs. “I’m supposed to be scary.”

“Yes, super scary,” Jaehyun says, teasing Yuta just a bit. 

“I know you’re being sarcastic, but I know what I look like with my SFX makeup on, so you’ll eat your words,” Yuta threatens. “And just to prove my point, you get to go stock the bowls with candy.”

“Alright, I’ll be back when I’m done though.” Jaehyun leaves Yuta’s room and walks down to the kitchen where there’s several huge bags of candy. There’s a little list of places that need candy, so Jaehyun starts with the bowls that will lay around the main area of the house before grabbing one of the unopened huge bags and taking it outside. There are two cauldrons that could probably fit Hendery if he tried. 

According to the note, one is for any type of candy and the other is for the bags with pluses drawn on them. Jaehyun doesn’t know what the difference between them really is but doesn’t question it and pours the non marked bag into one of the caldragons. Despite the bag weighing at least ten pounds, it only fills up the cauldron halfway. 

Yeah, this is going to take longer than Jaehyun thought. He heads back inside and grabs another unmarked bag which fills up the caldregon most of the way, but still not one hundred percent full. Seriously, where did Yuta buy these things?

Jaehyun turns around and is ready to get a third bag, but he sees Yuta in full costume and full on screams. Yuta cheers and walks closer to Jaehyun, smiling and showing off his sharp fangs.

“I told you you would be scared,” Yuta says, clearly very pleased with Jaehyun’s reactions. Jaehyun isn’t the type to get scared easily but the combination of fangs, blood, fake wounds and colored lenses really make Yuta look frightening.

“You’re going to scare small children.”

“Side effects of being too good at Halloween costumes.” Yuta runs a finger down Jaehyun’s chest, making him shiver. “I don’t suppose you’ll let me take a bite of you.” Jaehyun’s throat goes dry, fear mixing with his attraction to Yuta. Thankfully Jaehyun doesn’t have to answer as Yuta sees something behind Jaehyun that is more worthy of his attention.

Jaehyun turns around, and finds himself looking at Yukhei and Sicheng, both in full costume. Yeah, this is certainly worth his attention as they are both dressed as  _ Mothman. _ Yuta immediately bursts out laughing. This is why Jaehyun isn’t something super popular— at least popular with his age group. The funniest part is they seem to have the exact same interpretation of what Mothman looks like, but Yukhei and Sicheng arrived separately, probably having no idea of each other's costume choice.

“This is why we should talk about our costumes ahead of time,” Sicheng mumbles. “I thought it would be funny to dress as Mothman because of Yukhei’s conspiracy theories, but clearly he thought the same thing.” 

“Yeah, pretty much,” Yukhei confirms. “I didn’t want to tell Sicheng in case he tried to sue me for copyright beforehand.” Sicheng looks at Yukhei, and Jaehyun stifles his laughter.

“This is a new level of couple costumes,” Yuta says, also trying not to laugh. “If I had my phone, I’d take a picture of this.”

“Yukhei is far too young for me,” Sicheng points out, waving around one of his moth wings for emphasis. 

“Yukhei is barely a year younger than you, and besides you skipped a grade so you’re essentially a tenth grader,” Yuta counters. Jaehyun has a feeling that Yukhei is blushing under his makeup based on the fact that he hasn’t chimed in with anything else.

“I will kill you,” Sicheng threatens before running across the yard towards Yuta who yells some form of protest and runs away back inside. Jaehyun is nearly crying from laughing so hard. Yukhei comes up to Jaehyun and that doesn’t make it any easier to stop laughing.

“I’m sorry for laughing, but you guys really came in the same costume— and it’s not even like you were both the Joker or something. You’re both fucking Mothman.”

“I’m aware of how it looks,” Yukhei begins. “But I really thought he would try to sue me.” 

“Even if he is Mothman, he couldn’t sue you because he would count as a public figure,” Jaehyun explains in between giggles. “He would also have to admit to being Mothman which would prove that you’re right.”

“That’s a very good point.” They hear a scream from the house and head off towards the back door, hoping either Sicheng or Yuta hadn’t murdered each other. Jaehyun walks into the kitchen and sees that neither of them have been murdered, but there is a lot of candy on the floor, specifically near Yuta and Sicheng’s feet. They have the kitchen island in between them, but it appears as though they’ve had a candy fight.

“Are you two going to call a truce or what?” Jaehyun asks which promptly gets a pack of skittles thrown at his face by Sicheng. “I’m just saying that we have to set out candy still and spilling it over the floor does absolutely nothing but make things more difficult.” Sicheng glares at Jaehyun who feels his gaze pierce his soul. 

“I will call a truce, if Yuta admits that I am a valid junior,” Sicheng says. 

“Fine,” Yuta grumbles. “You’re a freshman pretending to be a junior.” Sicheng runs at Yuta again and Yuta heads off into the house with Sicheng hot on his tails.

“Somehow that surprised me when I really should have seen it coming,” Jaehyun mumbles. “Can you help me carry the non floor candy outside though?”

“Sure,” Yukhei replies. “If you hand me bags, I can carry two at once.”

“Oh, nice.” Jaehyun places two of the bags with pluses in Yukhei’s arms. “These go in the empty caldron.” Yukhei nods and heads outside. Jaehyun should probably try to figure out what the distinction between the plus and non plus candy is. He looks at the different bags and then it hits him. The plus bags are for kids with allergies. No nuts or anything like that. That makes picking up the mess of candy on the floor quite a bit easier. Yukhei returns a minute later and Jaehyun turns his head up towards him.

“What now?” Yukhei asks. “Both things are mostly full, but could use a bit more.”

“Right, that's why we need to pick up the mess on the floor. Candy with nothing allergic in it goes in this bag.” Jaehyun hands over the plug bag to Yukhei and he sits down on the floor carefully. They work in silence for a moment before Yukhei asks Jaehyun something. 

“Do you think I’m actually too young for Sicheng?” Yukhei asks. Jaehyun falters. He probably isn’t the best person to be asked this, namely because he still doesn’t know everyone super well, but he’ll do his best.

“You’re turning fifteen in January right?” Jaehyun asks. Yukhei nods. “And Sicheng turned sixteen just a few days ago, so personally I don’t think it’s a huge deal. If you were like four months older and Sicheng didn’t engage in black magic then you’d be in the same grade and no one would think anything of it.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Yukhei mumbles.

“I didn’t even think you liked him if I’m honest.” Jaehyun drops some more candy in his bag, trying not to accidentally hurt Yukhei’s feelings. 

“I’m aware it isn’t obvious,” Yukhei begins. “But I do really like him. Even though he’s a flying beast during the night.” Jaehyun snorts. “I know everyone doesn’t believe me, but I’m so sure of it. One day you’ll see, I promise.” 

“If you say so.” The doorbell rings and Jaehyun hops up, assuming it to be more of the supernatural club, or Sicheng after getting locked out by Yuta. Jaehyun opens the door and sees Doyoung and Ten. “Good afternoon, things are nearly ready, but Yuta and Sicheng are chasing each other somewhere because Yuta called Sicheng a freshman.”

“Sounds about right,” Ten says. Ten and Doyoung are dressed as Sherlock and Watson which is honestly quite a nice couples costume as straight people will only assume Ten and Doyoung are just friends, but all the gay people will know the truth. 

“Anything we can do?” Doyoung asks.

“I have no idea as right now me and Yukhei are working on cleaning up the candy Sicheng and Yuta spilled. But maybe if you could find those two that would help?” Jaehyun leads both of them back into the kitchen. 

“I’ll find them. It’s already four, so actual people will be arriving in an hour and that bit of information should snap Yuta into action,” Ten explains before disappearing back out of the kitchen.

“Doyoung, do you know when Mark, Hendery and Jungwoo are going to get here?” Jaehyun asks, heading back to his spot on the floor to pick up candy. There isn’t that much left thanks to Yukhei’s help though.

“Yukhei, are you Mothman?” Doyoung asks.

“Why yes I am,” Yukhei replies. “Sicheng also made the decision to dress up as Mothman so don’t be surprised when you see double.”

“Noted, and I’ll text everyone else right now. Taeil said that he might stop by later, but only when there is quote other adults for me to speak to because I can only take so much of you nine end quote,” Doyoung says. “I don’t blame him honestly, but I know he’d show up anyway because Yuta does such a good job of making everything spooky. I don’t believe in supernatural stuff, but Yuta’s Halloween party and haunted house is the closest I get.”

“High praise,” Jaehyun replies, dropping the last piece of candy into the bag. “Okay, you get to take this outside with Yukhei. He’ll tell you which cauldron to pour it into.” 

“Got it.” Doyoung takes the bag and Yukhei stands up with his. They head outside and Jaehyun double checks that the floor is clear. There’s one box of Dots that got kicked to the side, so Jaehyun picks it up and eats it. No one is going to notice one Dots missing. The pantry door opens and Jaehyun spins towards the sound, scared he is actually going to get in trouble for eating candy early, but it's just Yuta.

“Yuta,” Jaehyun hisses. “How did you even get in here?”

“You think I wouldn’t be able to escape Sicheng?” Yuta counters. “You wound me. Anyway, Yukhei likes Sicheng.” Yuta wiggles his eyebrows and puts his elbows on the counter. “Everything is all set up now so we just have to kill time until the others show up. My parents will also be back any minute to get their costumes on.” 

“Don’t say anything to Yukhei though,” Jaehyun starts. “He seems to be a bit shy about his crush on Sicheng.”

“Yeah, I know. I get how he feels.” Yuta looks at the counter and Jaehyun bites the inside of his cheek. They get quiet until the doorbell rings and Yuta excuses himself. Mark, Jungwoo and Hendery come into the kitchen and Jaehyun can hear Yuta talking to his parents and going upstairs with them.

“Nice costume, Jaehyun,” Mark says. He’s dressed as a cat, which isn’t the most creative costume, but Mark looks nice anyways. 

“Thanks,” Jaehyun replies. Jungwoo is dressed as a sea monster and Hendery is a werewolf which both feel pretty on brand for the supernatural club. “You guys all picked cool costumes. Yukhei and Sicheng both ended up being Mothman.”

“Both of them?” Jungwoo repeats.

“Both of them.” The four of them make small talk for a bit until everyone else comes back into the kitchen. It’s pretty crowded with all nine of them, and Sicheng is still giving Yuta dirty looks, but it feels surprisingly homey. 

“Okay, so those who want to go trick or treating may come with me as it’s finally an acceptable time to go around, but two of you have to stay to man the haunted house until I get back and everyone else can just party or whatever,” Yuta says. 

Jungwoo and Sicheng take the haunted house while Yuta, Jaehyun, Mark and Yukhei opt to go trick or treating. Ten and Doyoung walk outside with them and Yuta is sure to tease them about being too old to trick or treat.

“I just want to spend time with my lovely boyfriend that doesn’t involve strange small children,” Ten says before placing a kiss on Doyoung’s cheek who looks a little embarrassed. 

“Young love is disgusting,” Yuta replies and Ten scoffs.

“You’re just jealous that you’re single,” Ten counters.

“I am not!” Yuta defends. “I’m plenty happy being single.”

“Tell that to your crush,” Ten counters, looking directly at Jaehyun. Yuta glares at Ten and grabs Jaehyun’s hand pulling him away from Ten and Doyoung. Mark and Yukhei also stay standing by Ten and Doyoung, stunned into silence. 

“Are you okay?” Jaehyun asks softly once they are a ways away from them.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Yuta replies. “I provoked him anyway, he just knows he shouldn’t have pushed it that far.”

“Why is it a big deal to bring up your crush?” Jaehyun wants to think that it’s him and that’s why Ten looked at him, but it could easily be because Ten picked up on the fact that Jaehyun likes Yuta and wanted to make Yuta awkward around Jaehyun. It’s probably not that deep, but Jaehyun over thinks things a lot. 

“It’s not, I’m just not ready to confess yet,” Yuta mumbles. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“Okay, we don’t have to. Anyways, are you excited to go see how everyone else decorated this year?” Jaehyun asks. He makes eye contact with Mark who asks if they can come over now with his hands. 

“Yeah.” Yuta smiles at Jaehyun, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. Jaehyun cocks his head, so Mark and Yukhei know they can walk over. 

The rest of the night goes really smoothly and Yuta doesn’t say anything else relating to his crush which is fine, just leaves Jaehyun wondering.

* * *

“Alright guys,” Yuta begins. “It is finally nearing our trip and I’m really excited. Taeil will be giving out field trip forms and explaining some of the rules in depth since he really doesn’t want anything sketchy to happen because there are some of you—” Yuta looks directly at Sicheng. “—who have a track record of being less than perfect.”

Sicheng doesn’t say anything about Yuta’s pointed glare much to Jaehyun’s surprise. Jaehyun isn’t even concerned about Sicheng, he’s much more suspicious of Hendery. He’s quiet but always listening. Suspicious as hell.

“Anyways, the dates of our trip are the eighteenth through the twenty second. Both of those days are mainly for travel and all Tahoe Tessie hunting activities will take place the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty first. I’m spelling this out to you because I do not want a repeat of last year.” This time Ten is the one on the receiving end of Yuta’s stare. He also doesn’t seem phased and shrugs.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about Yuta,” Ten replies, perfectly relaxed.

“I am not going to get into this with you right now,” Yuta grumbles. “Moving on. Get your parents to sign these and please give Taeil money so we can afford to eat and go mini golfing.” Yuta takes his seat down next to Jaehyun and looks at him.

“Good afternoon to you too,” Jaehyun says. “Is there a reason you’re staring at me?”

“Yes because I want to see you pick up a permission slip form.” Jaehyun rolls his eyes. “I know you still think this is a bunch of bullshit but I’m going to show you Jaehyun Jung.”

“You’re only going to show me the Loch Ness Monster’s loser cousin?” Yuta gasps and clutches his chest. 

“I can’t believe you would say such a thing.” Sicheng turns around and looks at them, placing permission slips on both of their desks.

“I completely believe it because Jaehyun is a non-believer and an idiot,” Sicheng chimes in. “Those are essentially synonyms, but it felt important to specify both.” What does Yukhei see in him?

“And when we find no proof of the Tahoe Tessie, then who will be the idiot?” Jaehyun retorts.

“Still you.” Jaehyun pouts and Sicheng turns back around.

“You’re lucky you’re cute otherwise I would be embarrassing you in front of the whole club right now. It’s what Tessie would want,” Yuta declares. There’s several things to unpack there, but Jaehyun focuses on the fact that Yuta just called him  _ cute. _ Cute is not the word Jaehyun would use to describe himself, but he’ll take it.

“Yes, I’m  _ so _ lucky,” Jaehyun replies, trying not to let his blush surface. He refuses to let Yuta win this.

“You are though.” As if on cue, Yukhei stands up and points at Sicheng dramatically. This cannot be good.

“Just look at him. Doesn’t he look like he would want to get to second base with a lamp?” Yukhei asks the classroom and Sicheng scoffs, rolling his eyes. 

“By that logic, you look like you could be Bigfoot after getting a wax,” Sicheng retorts. Yukhei’s nostrils flare, but he gives a smart ass reply instead of letting Sicheng win.

“I choose not to be offended by that because Bigfoot is the ultimate dilf.” Yukhei says this like it’s completely normal and makes perfect sense, which to some people in here it probably does, if Jaehyun is honest. The entire room is in chaos; Jaehyun’s jaw is practically on the floor, Ten looks disgusted, Mark is writing down what Yukhei said, and Yuta seems to be genuinely thinking over Yukhei’s opinion.

“You can’t really be considering what Yukhei said, can you?” Jaehyun whispers, leaning closer to Yuta. 

“Think about it,” Yuta says. “Like really think about it. Bigfoot is probably a dad to tinier Bigfoots or smallfoots as I chose to call them— and he’s likely very sexy, so in conclusion; dilf.” Jaehyun stares at Yuta, contemplating his taste in men for probably the fourth time since he’s joined this stupid club.

“I refuse to think about it.” 

“That’s only because deep down you know I’m right.” Yuta crosses his arms. “I’m going to go hook up with Bigfoot without you and you’re going to miss out.” Is it too late to leave this club?

* * *

The day of the trip comes and Jaehyun finds himself surprisingly anxious. It’s been a long time since he had any form of sleepover, let alone one so far away from home, so he’s worried. Something also about the people he’s going there with makes him a bit overly paranoid. But Jaehyun is packed and it’s two hours after school ended. 

Since there’s ten of them, Taeil will be taking four students and Yuta will take the other four. Jaehyun has no idea how things will be split up, but for the sake of everyone, he hopes that Sicheng and Yukhei are away from each other. No thoughts of Mothman for four hours please. 

“This is going to work a bit like picking teams for football,” Yuta begins. The eight students who are being divided up are all standing in a line while Taeil and Yuta stand before them with their cars behind them. Taeil’s car only fits five so it will be a little more cramped than Yuta’s beat up minivan which fits seven. “Taeil will start by picking someone and then I will pick someone and so on. There will be no complaining or else you will be forced to sleep in the snow with the wolves.” 

“My first pick is Mark,” Taeil says. Jaehyun doesn’t know when he started using Taeil instead of Mr. Moon, but now he doesn’t think that he could switch back even if he wanted to. Mark cheers and walks over to Taeil, bag in hand and beaming. 

“I pick Jaehyun,” Yuta decides. He doesn’t even think about it and Jaehyun almost wants to ask him if he’s really sure that Jaehyun is the pick he wants, but thinks that might not be the smartest option. Jaehyun walks his suitcase over to Yuta who ruffles his hair affectionately. Don’t blush don’t blush don’t blush. Jaehyun bites the inside of his cheek, causing his dimples to poke out. 

“Doyoung you’re with me.” 

“Ten come with me.” 

“If you let me only take one more, I’ll take Yukhei,” Taeil offers and Yukhei squawks. “Otherwise I’m taking Jungwoo.” Yuta thinks it over for a moment. 

“Fine, but only if you also agree to an IOU good for anything that isn’t illegal.” Taeil looks hesitant, but then he looks back at the remaining students.

“Okay. Yukhei come with me.” Yuta makes a cheer while everyone else grumbles about car arrangements quietly. 

“Everyone put your things in the back and then I will decide who sits where because I know some of you get car sick and stuff,” Yuta says. Jaehyun personally doesn’t get car sick and actually told Yuta this ahead of time since Yuta had asked for some reason. “Jungwoo, I know you get nauseous, so you’re in the middle.” 

“Yep,” Jungwoo chirps, climbing into the van. 

“Can I ride shotgun?” Ten asks.

“Sadly, no. Jaehyun gets really car sick and can only prevent himself from barfing by looking at the horizon,” Yuta explains and Jaehyun turns to look at Yuta, completely bamboozled as to why Yuta is lying. Ten frowns. 

“Alright, then I’m sitting in the middle with Jungwoo. I’m pulling the I’m a senior card,” Ten relents. Hendery and Sicheng don’t protest and climb into the back of the car. Yuta gets in the driver's seat and Jaehyun hops up front. He doesn’t really have a good opportunity to ask about the lying right now, so he’ll just have to wait.

“Okay, does everyone have their seatbelts on?” Yuta asks, adjusting the rear view mirror. Ten rolls his eyes and Yuta tsks. “I’m going to put some music on and then we can go.” Yuta starts the car and pulls out his phone. The song that comes out of the speakers makes Jaehyun regret allowing Yuta to put him in this car.

_ “Believe, believe, yes you can. Believe in the power of the Mothman.” _

This was a mistake. All Jaehyun wanted was to not think about Mothman and now he has to listen to music involving motherfucking Mothman. The lyrics truly mimic the things from Yukhei’s presentation and Jaehyun looks back to see Sicheng laughing throughout the song. At least, Yukhei isn’t here to accuse Sicheng of anything…

* * *

They arrive in Lake Tahoe half past seven, having listened to the album ‘Believe: Exciting Songs About Shockingly Mysterious Stuff’ for the first hour of the drive, every song driving Jaehyun a little bit closer to trying to escape out the window. 

But they’re here now, so it’s all okay. There’s a master bedroom on the bottom floor which naturally goes to Taeil and the two pull out couches are given to Mark, Hendery, Jungwoo and Yukhei. Ten convinces the seniors and juniors to pull seniority for the upstairs rooms. There’s a big open room at the top of stairs with a king sized bed and an air mattress on the left and to the right is a small bathroom and another bedroom with a full size bed. Ten and Doyoung opt to take their own room, leaving Jaehyun, Yuta and Sicheng to divide up the two beds.

Jaehyun isn’t sure if he’d rather sleep alone or not. Air mattresses aren’t really his thing, but he also doesn’t know if sleeping next to Yuta or Sicheng would go well. He has no qualms with sharing a bed but Sicheng seems like the type to bite in his sleep. 

“So how are we deciding this?” Jaehyun asks. “I think anyone who already knows they kick or something like that should man up and take the air mattress.” 

“I don’t like air mattresses but I distrust Sicheng’s sleeping habits,” Yuta says. “I’m not saying you’re Mothman Sicheng, but Mothman probably isn’t pleasant to sleep with and I can’t take that chance.” 

“I would be offended by this because I’m not Mothman, but I know Yukhei’s reaction to this will be priceless, so as long as you say that I’m suspicious to him, I’ll sleep on the air mattress,” Sicheng offers and Yuta scrutinizes him for a moment.

“You drive a hard bargain, but I accept the deal. Jaehyun you get no say in this.” Jaehyun rolls his eyes. He’s not sleeping on an air mattress so this works out in the end, though he also has to sleep next to Yuta which might not work out well for Jaehyun. Jaehyun isn’t generally super clingy in his sleep, but it’s happened before and Jaehyun doesn’t really want to explain  _ why _ he’s so drawn to cuddle with Yuta.

Everyone puts their things away while Taeil orders pizza. Feeding nine students apparently requires seven large pizzas and Jaehyun doesn’t question it because he’s sure while some of them probably won’t eat a ton, he’s also just as sure that Yukhei could inhale a whole pizza on his own. He’s taller than Jaehyun even though he’s two years younger and only just now hitting his growth spurt.

Surprisingly there’s pretty little supernatural talk over dinner, everyone clearly tired from the ride up. Jaehyun ends up actually being the one asking where they are going tomorrow and Yuta just saying that it’s a secret. That makes Jaehyun naturally suspicious, but he’s been to Tahoe before as a kid and there isn’t really anything menacing around. Although, Yuta is Yuta and probably knows some things that Jaehyun doesn’t. 

After dinner, everyone piles on the couches to watch a movie which is naturally The Nightmare Before Christmas. It’s December, but they are also high school students and aren’t going to want to watch some sappy Hallmark movie. 

Yuta sits on the end of the couch and calls Jaehyun over to him to sit down. Jaehyun catches Ten’s eye across the room which has a suspicious glint in it that Jaehyun chooses to ignore for now. On the other side of Jaehyun is Mark who is fidgety, so Jaehyun scootches a little bit closer to Yuta who takes that as an invitation to wrap his arm around Jaehyun’s shoulders. 

Oh lovely. Now this is going to be the only thing Jaehyun will think about during the entire movie. But it’s not like he’s trying to think about it. Yuta keeps squeezing his shoulder and playing with the collar of his shirt. If Jaehyun even wanted to pay attention he would have to ignore Yuta’s fingers on his collarbones, tracing the slope of them without a care in the world. 

So it’s safe to say that Jaehyun has no idea what happens on screen during that hour and a half, but he knows the exact order of every little thing Yuta drew on his skin. 

Things aren’t made any easier on Jaehyun when they go to bed. Sicheng stays downstairs to mess with Yukhei a bit, but even before he goes upstairs, Jaehyun can see that Yukhei is enjoying the teasing. Maybe they would actually work well together after all. 

“Jaehyun, are you coming to bed?” Yuta asks from the stairs. Jaehyun perks his head up and follows Yuta upstairs. Ten and Doyoung are talking quietly in their room, and Jaehyun walks over to his suitcase, pulling out some pajamas. Though it’s awfully cold, this might not be enough. Jaehyun has a sweatshirt too, so that should help fight off the cold. 

Yuta is standing by the window, so Jaehyun takes the time to pull his shirt off. But of course, that’s when Yuta turns around, quickly slaps his hands over his eyes and Jaehyun turns pink from embarrassment. He has the worst timing.

“I’m sorry— you could have asked me to go in the bathroom or something,” Yuta mumbles. 

“It’s okay,” Jaehyun reassures. He’s embarrassed, yes, but it’s not super weird. For fucks sake Yuta saw him without pants on when he spilled that blood on him, so this isn’t even that bad. “It’s not like I’m secretly Mothman and need to hide my wings or something.” Yuta smiles, but leaves his hands over his eyes.

“Imagine if you were and that Yukhei had it all wrong,” Yuta muses. “I would pay good money to see that happen.”

“You enjoy messing with Yukhei just as much as Sicheng does.” Jaehyun pulls his pajama shirt on; a loose tee shirt that practically hangs off his shoulder. “I think it would be a better twist that you’re Mothman and like to mess with Yukhei as a form of revenge for him not giving you enough attention.”

“I’m not  _ that _ much of an attention whore,” Yuta protests. “Though, that would be hilarious I admit. Like I don’t think Sicheng is Mothman but if he was I wouldn’t react. Wouldn’t even blink.” Jaehyun laughs and switches into his flannel pants.

“Somehow I doubt that. I don’t believe in any of this nonsense but if someone gave me proof I would just accept it and move on. Also you can look now.” Yuta peaks through his fingers before removing his hands completely and walking to the foot of the bed where his duffel bag lays on the floor. 

“So are we placing a formal bet on who would react more to the formal proof of supernatural creatures?” Yuta asks, laying on his clothes on the bed. 

“Why not?” Jaehyun counters, sitting down on his side of the bed and letting his feet dangle. “It’s not like we’re really going to find the Tahoe Tessie. Statistically, if we’re doing the same stuff as previous years you would have had some proof by now.” Yuta opens his mouth to protest but doesn’t say anything. “So I think it would be a fun bet to motivate us more.”

“Okay, what do you want if you win? You can pick anything provided it’s feasible and isn’t crazy expensive.” Jaehyun looks down to Yuta’s lips, just a tinge pink from lip balm and pulled into a half smile. He knows exactly what he wants but isn’t sure if that counts as feasible in Yuta’s book. 

“I have no idea. You go first.” 

“That’s gonna make mine seem weird then.” Yuta pouts and Jaehyun laughs, breaking eye contact for a moment to take in a breath. Sometimes having Yuta’s attention directly on him makes Jaehyun nervous. He’s been better and adjusted to it quite a bit, but every once and a while the full impact of Yuta’s beauty hits him. 

“I guarantee it isn’t that weird.” Jaehyun has no idea if that’s true, but now he wants to know so badly. Yuta pushes a piece of his hair behind his ear shyly and bites his lip, looking at the floor. 

“I want a kiss from you.” For a moment all Jaehyun can do is stare at Yuta. 

“That’s what I was going to say,” Jaehyun blurts out. There’s the sound of something falling over in Ten and Doyoung’s room, reminding Jaehyun that they aren’t really alone. 

“Really?” Yuta glances toward Doyoung and Ten’s door. “Because I kind of thought you knew and just didn’t care.”

“Huh?” Jaehyun stares dumbfounded at Yuta.

“Y’know on Halloween? When Ten basically confessed for me?” Yuta asks, looking surprised.

“I just took you at your word, but I’ve liked you since we first met and you bought me Red Bull.” Yuta’s jaw drops and Jaehyun giggles, knowing that he’s certainly turned pink all the way up to his ears.

“This is unbelievable. I could have upped my flirting from the beginning,” Yuta mumbles, coming to stand in between Jaehyun’s legs which are still dangling off the side of the bed. “Say Jaehyun, would you like that kiss now?”

“Not going to wait until we catch the Tahoe Tessie?” Jaehyun teases, unable to hold back his smile. There’s butterflies fluttering in his stomach, but he doesn’t care. All he cares about is the way Yuta is looking at him. 

“I’ve done this three times already and like you said— the math is not with us on this.” Yuta snakes his arms around Jaehyun’s shoulders, leaning down so he’s hovering over Jaehyun’s lips. Jaheyun tilts his head up to meet with Yuta and they stare at each other like that for a moment, noses just barely brushing.

“I think you should kiss me,” Jaehyun whispers.

“I think you’re right.” Yuta leans in and when they are only a half inch apart, they hear Sicheng start stomping up the stairs. Jaehyun jolts away and so does Yuta, both pink in the face. Yuta goes back to his pajamas and pretends to mess with them while Jaehyun rolls over so he’s laying on the bed, trying to look casual. 

“Yukhei is insufferable,” Sicheng whines. “I’m trying to lay on the couch with him and be normal for once and he’s trying to look down the back of my shirt and see if there’s wings in there.” Sicheng plops down on the air mattress with a sigh. 

“That’s such a pain,” Yuta agrees. “I’m just putting my pj’s on and then we’re gonna go to bed.” 

“Sounds like a plan to me. I’ll go get dressed in the bathroom.” Sicheng ruffles around in his stuff and then flashes a peace sign before dipping into the bathroom. Jaehyun makes a point to stare at the bedspread and face away from Yuta. 

“Oh please,” Yuta whispers. “I just confessed my feelings for you; I’m not going to care if you see me in my underwear.” Jaehyun chokes on his spit, startled by how direct Yuta is, but turns around anyway. Yuta’s pajama shorts are low on his hips and he’s shirtless. He isn’t super muscular or anything but he’s lean and quite pretty to look at. Part of Jaehyun must admit that he wants to kiss every inch of Yuta’s skin, particularly his collarbones and chest, but that can happen at a later date. 

“You’re very pretty,” Jaehyun mumbles and Yuta smiles, looking over at Jaehyun. 

“Thank you, I think you’re also quite pretty.” Yuta pulls his shirt on right as Sicheng walks out of the bathroom in a dragon onesie.

“Somehow that feels appropriate,” Jaehyun says and Sicheng turns his head towards him.

“I know dragons are fake though, so I don’t worry about negative feedback but I’ve heard bigfoot is actually quite sensitive and doesn’t like the way some of you depict him.” Jaehyun has to stare at Sicheng for a moment after he says that. He seems to really believe every word he says and Jaehyun is reminded just who he’s staying with. Everyone here except Doyoung and Mark maybe believe some level of this stuff. Maybe Taeil is reasonable, but Jaehyun doubts it. To be honest, Mark might be a lost cause after the Mothman presentation…

“Great reasoning,” Yuta replies. “Personally, I don’t care if I piss off any supernatural creature because in order for them to enact any sort of revenge, they would have to reveal themselves to me and even if I died seconds later it would be worth it.” Ah yes, the man Jaehyun nearly kissed only moments ago. He’s just not going to say anything. Lips are zipped. Fuck, he can’t.

“If you insult Mothman and Sicheng is Mothman couldn’t he get revenge by just being annoying? And you wouldn’t even know why he’s being annoying but secretly it's the Mothman insults,” Jaehyun blurts out. He can’t believe he said that with his entire chest, but here he is. Yuta looks honestly more attracted to Jaehyun then he did two minutes ago which is telling and Sicheng looks to be considering Jaehyun’s idea. 

“You raise a good point, Jaehyun. I should just always annoy Yuta and then blame a supernatural creature for it. Like I’m doing favors for friends.” Yuta’s eyes widen and suddenly he doesn’t look so attracted to Jaehyun.

“Ha, ha, Sicheng please don’t—”

“I will consider it if you provide me with a sufficient offering.” Sicheng crosses his arms and Yuta looks like he’s panicking. Jaehyun only knows one piece of information that Sicheng would want to know, but he’s not about to betray Yukhei’s trust. 

“Like what?” Yuta asks. Sicheng looks both ways before lowering his voice.

“This stays between us three but I like Yukhei and I am trying to figure out if I should actually try to flirt with him or not. I know he’s a dorky freshman, but he’s cute and is actually pretty close in age to me,” Sicheng admits and Jaehyun full-on gasps. He didn’t think this would happen, but things are going in the right direction.

“I think you should go for it,” Yuta says without actually saying anything. Sicheng frowns and Jaehyun bites his lip. This feels like the only acceptable place to betray Yukhei’s trust. He wants to get with Sicheng and this is Sicheng asking if Yukhei likes him so he knows he’s not shooting into the dark. 

“Yukhei really likes you,” Jaehyun whispers. “But don’t make it obvious that you were told.” Sicheng breaks out into a smile— the first one Jaehyun has ever seen from Sicheng.

“Thanks, Jaehyun. That makes things easier at least, but I’m going to go to bed now because we have an early day tomorrow.” Right. Hunting for the Tahoe Tessie. Jaehyun still doesn’t know what the Tahoe Tessie looks like, but he’s sure he’ll know by tomorrow.

Jaehyun climbs under the covers while Sicheng gets comfortable and Yuta goes to turn the top light off. There weren’t any plans for confessions while on this trip, so now Jaehyun has to sleep next to Yuta while they are aware of their feelings but haven’t decided what to do about them. This is somehow more stressful because Jaehyun doesn’t know what the expectation is here.

Yuta crawls under the covers as well and feels out for Jaehyun’s hand, interlocking their pinkies and then sliding himself closer to Jaehyun. They aren’t touching except for their pinkies, but Yuta’s face is next to Jaehyun’s, looking at him carefully in the dark.

“We’ll talk about this tomorrow, okay?” Yuta breathes against Jaehyun’s ear, voice low so Sicheng can’t hear him. “But until then, would you like to cuddle with me?” Jaehyun nods, then realizes that Yuta probably can’t see him all that well, so Jaehyun pulls Yuta against his chest instead. Yuta gets the message and curls into Jaehyun, both of them drifting to sleep with ease. 

* * *

Jaehyun wakes up cuddled up with Yuta and for a moment he panics, but then he remembers the conversation they had the night before. Maybe they could talk before anyone even walks up—

“Yukhei!” Ten screams from downstairs. Or maybe not. Jaehyun gently nudges Yuta’s shoulder, trying to wake him up without being annoying about it. Yuta groans and wraps his leg tighter around Jaehyun’s waist. 

“You gotta wake up, Yuta,” Jaehyun says, pushing Yuta’s hair out of his face. “People are already awake and you were the one that said we have things to do today.” 

“Fuck, you’re right.” Yuta shoves his head in Jaehyun’s chest. “You’re right, but I wish you weren’t.” Jaehyun smiles, feeling those ever so familiar butterflies in his stomach. Yuta yawns and then lets go of Jaehyun and climbs out of bed.

They both make their way downstairs to where everyone is both making breakfast and trying to pack lunches for the day. It’s honestly a complete disaster, but what could anyone else even really expect from nine high schoolers? 

“Attention!” Taeil is standing on one of the fold out couches which is not made and still has Yukhei asleep on one half. “If you are eating breakfast, hurry up and then go put your beach clothes on. If you are packing a lunch, wait until a spot at the table is freed up for breakfast. And if you are doing neither of those things, go get dressed now so we can work this out.” That snaps everyone into action. Jaehyun, Yuta and Doyoung all head back upstairs to put on beach clothes.

“And back up the stairs we go,” Jaehyun mumbles to himself. Doyoung disappears into his room and Jaehyun looks through his things to find his swim trunks. He’s not so self conscious of his chest that he’ll wear a swim shirt, but he still puts on a tee shirt for the ride to the beach at least. He also grabs a towel and extra sunscreen. 

“Okay, I’m ready,” Yuta says and Jaehyun turns around to look at Yuta. He’s also in swim trunks, but his are solid black and he doesn’t have a shirt on. Instead, he has a tote bag with a towel poking out of the top which may include a shirt.

Once they’re dressed, they both walk back downstairs which is much more empty. There’s only Ten eating breakfast while Jungwoo and a now awakened Yukhei are packing their lunches. So Jaehyun and Yuta sit down with Ten, helping themselves to the fresh food in front of them. There’s toast, eggs, belgin waffles and bacon which makes for a delicious breakfast. 

“I have no idea who cooked this,” Jaehyun begins. “But they are an amazing chef.” 

“Thanks, Jaehyun,” Taeil says.

“Oh, yeah, you’re welcome.” Jaehyun munches down on the rest of his breakfast, and once he’s finished, he carries his plate into the now empty kitchen and starts to prep his lunch for the day. They’re all having sandwiches, Gatorade and chips which is fine by Jaehyun. He is joined by Yuta a moment later who takes less than two minutes to throw together a lunch for himself.

“Are you excited to go to the beach?” Yuta asks, smiling to himself as he puts the final touches on his sandwich. 

“Yeah, I haven’t been in a while, so it should be fun,” Jaehyun replies.

“I always try to go out as far as I can to try and see Tessie since it’s not like she’ll be in two feet of water,” Yuta says. “Wanna come with me?” 

“Why not?” Jaehyun isn’t afraid of deep water, so there shouldn’t be any issue. Granted, he assumes they won’t find the lake equivalent of a sea monster. If they do, then Jaehyun is going to swim away like a scared puppy, but he’s valid because he doesn’t fuck with sea monsters.

“Great.” Yuta puts his stuff in a ziploc bag and Jaehyun does the same. They’re the first two ready it seems like, so they place their food in the cooler and then head outside. Only to see that the car is covered in snow.

“Yuta, did you forget that it’s Winter?” Jaehyun asks. Because he certainly had. In all the excitement this morning, Jaehyun genuinely just forgot that it’s only fifty degrees outside and there’s snow everywhere.

“Nope. I like to swim when it’s cold.” Yuta shrugs off Jaehyun and opens the door to his car. “If you read the itinerary or any of the Tessie pamphlets I gave you, you’d know that Tessie likes cold water better. And with the sun shining down it’s not even that bad.” Jaehyun doesn’t feel convinced.

“What if I get hypothermia and die?”

“Then you will die. Sad fact of life.” Yuta climbs in his car and Jaehyun whines to no one before climbing in the front seat. Everything is freezing cold so Yuta starts the car and cranks up the heat. “On a more serious note, if it’s too cold for you, you’re welcome to dress in something warmer.”

“I think I will be fine.” Jaehyun is partially trying to convince himself, but he’ll probably be fine even if he gets hypothermia. Just because they are in the Serria’s doesn’t mean that there aren’t hospitals. Yes, they are likely run by bevers, but they went to medical school.

“I mean,” Yuta begins, looking at Jaehyun carefully. “I could always warm you up.” Jaehyun knows exactly what Yuta is implying, but that isn’t effective in the long run. 

“You want our first kiss to be in your car?”

“You were going to kiss me with Ten and Doyoung one room over. I think this is a step up,” Yuta defends. Jaehyun looks out the front window. It’s completely covered in snow along with the other ones. 

“Okay, fine. Kiss me then.” Yuta smiles and leans over, cupping Jaehyun’s jaw.

“This took much longer than it should have.” Jaehyun’s eyes slide shut and he mentally prepares for Yuta to kiss him, but instead the side door opens and they jump apart. 

“Good morning, guys,” Ten says as he climbs in. Doyoung gets in right after him and they both take the middle seat. “Are you ready to freeze to death at the beach?”

“Obviously,” Yuta retorts. Jaehyun spares a quick look over to Yuta who’s a little more pink than he was a minute ago, but it’s not obvious. How do they have the worst timing ever? Jaehyun wonders what the kiss equivalent of cockblocking is. Because that’s what this is; mouth cockblocking. That somehow sounds  _ so _ much dirtier, but Jaehyun will find a better term eventually. “Who else is riding with us?”

“Jungwoo and Mark,” Doyoung replies. “They’re almost ready though Mark looks like he’s about to roll around in the snow and not go to the beach.”

“He is the most logically dressed then,” Jaehyun mutters. “I can’t believe we’re really going sea monster hunting in winter.”

“Jaehyun, you literally signed the permission slip yourself,” Ten points out. “I watched Yuta stare you down until you signed it.” That’s true. Yuta had stared directly at Jaehyun until he filled out the permission slip which was quite scary if he’s honest. 

“Okay, fair enough,” Jaehyun relents. “I am still surprised we’re really doing this.” 

“All in the name of monster hunting,” Yuta sing-songs. “Where are Mark and Jungwoo? I want to go throw myself into icy waters already.” 

“Right here.” The side door opens again and Doyoung climbs into Ten’s lap so Jungwoo and Mark can get into the back. Mark really is the only one that’s properly dressed. 

“Speak of the devil…” Ten mumbles.

“If only you could speak of the Tahoe Tessie,” Jungwoo says. “Wait— you know what I meant.”

“That I do,” Yuta replies. “Now put on your seatbelts.” Doyoung climbs back into his seat, shaking his head the whole time. Jaehyun relates heavily. They’re going to go look around the beach in the dead of winter for a sea monster. This is why Jaehyun really should read permission slips before he’s forced to sign them by pretty people.

Yuta texts Taeil to let him know that they are leaving and then he’s pulling out of his parking space, having defrosted all the windows during the time they were waiting for Mark and Jungwoo. He drives out of the parking lot and onto the main road which is just as snow covered as Jaehyun was expecting.

Within fifteen minutes, they arrive at the beach. It’s overcast but starting to clear up and there’s practically no one else around. They all place their stuff on one section of the beach and Jaehyun isn’t really worried that someone is going to steal his stuff. 

“Okay, catch you guys later,” Yuta says, setting down the last of his stuff before fully sprinting into the water. Jaehyun stares at him, jaw open. He should have seen this coming, but he didn’t. Ten runs in after Yuta which is somehow more surprising. Mark pulls out a notebook and starts to walk along the beach while Jungwoo reluctantly starts to toe into the water.

“They are quite a pair, aren’t they?” Jaehyun doesn’t think he’s ever really had a one on one conversation with Doyoung before. 

“I would say so,” Jaehyun replies, a bit curious as to where Doyoung is going with this. 

“They may disagree and butt heads a lot, but they are best friends in this weird way. Sort of like they are the exact same person, just with a different backstory,” Doyoung says. 

“I don’t get it.” 

“I’m saying that you and I aren’t really that different. And I’m just telling you that Yuta, just like Ten, will do whatever he wants no matter how bad a decision it is. Either you go along and help or you let him fuck up on his own and come when it’s over to help.” This feels far too deep of a conversation for Jaehyun who is still seventeen. He’s nearly eighteen, yes, but it feels like Doyoung is talking about growing up which is not something Jaehyun wants to think about for another eight months or so. 

“Is Yuta about to do something that I’m going to consider a bad decision?” Jaehyun asks. 

“He’s been thinking about taking community college classes for a while instead of going directly to college and now he’s factoring you into that decision. His logic is that he wanted to do it anyway and now he has a good reason to stick around,” Doyoung explains.

“We barely even talked about everything though,” Jaehyun mumbles. “He really wants to do that because of me?”

“Yeah, I think it’s stupid— no offense, Jaehyun.” Doyoung sighs. “Him and Ten want to go to the same college, but it’s two hours away, which isn’t that far honestly. Except Yuta is dragging his heels on submitting his application because of you. And I’m not trying to put anything on you; like I said Yuta is going to do whatever he wants no matter what you say.”

“So why are you telling me?” Jaehyun asks.

“Because I don’t think two hours away is a lot to sacrifice for a relationship. I know I would say that isn’t a big deal and I think we’re quite similar so I think you’d say the same thing. If you don’t feel that way, then don’t say anything to him as he’s already leaning in that direction. Just let him know that it wouldn’t be a big deal to you.” Jaehyun nods.

“I get what you’re saying, and you’re right, I wouldn’t mind being two hours away if Yuta is at the college he really wants to go to,” Jaehyun admits. “Thanks for telling me, Doyoung.” 

“Anytime. Now would you like to get in the water and splash Ten and Yuta with me?”

“Absolutely.”

* * *

Jaehyun ends up soaking wet and freezing as he expected, but Yuta helps dry him off with his towel so it’s all worth it in the end. They eat lunch together and Yuta is expectedly flirty which ends up in Jaehyun blushing for a good amount of lunch.

“What are we doing after lunch?” Jaehyun asks. True to Yuta’s word, the sun had come out which had only made him a slight bit warmer, but he’s making it work. 

“Probably headed back inside to warm up since no one is dressed like Mark is. Then I have to head out and buy stuff for dinner this afternoon from K-Mart,” Yuta says. 

“K-Mart?”

“That is the only place up here.” Yuta laughs. “There’s no Walmart, Target or anything else. Only K-Mart.”

“Only K-Mart,” Jaehyun repeats. “Can I come with you?”

“Of course. I think Ten and Doyoung are tagging along too since Ten is the main person who’s going to be cooking. He likes to banish me from the kitchen, but somehow Sicheng is allowed in there. Go figure.”

“Hey Yuta,” Ten calls. His hair is wet and he’s smiling as he walks across the sand. “Do you want to head to K-Mart now so we can get it over with? I’ll have plenty of time to prep things without worrying about people being all up in my space.”

“Sounds good to me. Is Doyoung coming with us?” Yuta asks, standing up and brushing sand off his swim trunks. 

“Yeah, he’s wrestling with Hendery right now though and I don’t feel like breaking it up.”

“Makes sense.” Yuta starts to pack up his things and pulls a sweatshirt out of his tote. “Jaehyun, grab anything you want so we can be ready to leave once Doyoung has been defeated. Also, Ten, don’t we need a fifth person so Taeil can fit everyone else in his car?”

“What about Yukhei?” Ten suggests. “He’s surprisingly helpful in the kitchen.” Jaehyun looks around for Yukhei and spots him talking with Sicheng by the water.

“I’ll go get Yukhei,” Jaehyun offers and Yuta nods. He climbs up, having already put his shirt back on and carrying his towel, and walks toward Yukhei. As he gets closer, he can make out their conversation better.

“You’re wearing a swim shirt,” Yukhei says, skepticism in his voice. “Very suspicious if you ask me.” 

“Not everyone is as confident in their bodies as you are,” Sicheng counters. He has a point. Yukhei is built with a strong body shape and well defined muscles, especially for someone his age.

“That might be true, but you have never even exposed your shoulder.” 

“Yukhei, Sicheng being modest doesn’t make him Mothman,” Jaehyun interrupts. 

“You can’t say that for sure,” Yukhei protests and Sicheng sticks out his tongue at Yukhei.

“Yes, I can now come on, you’re coming with Ten, Doyoung, Yuta and I to go to K-Mart,” Jaehyun says, grabbing Yukhei’s arm and giving it a small tug.

“Ooh, K-Mart.” Yukhei gives Sicheng one last suspicious look. “We will finish this later.” Jaehyun rolls his eyes and lets go of Yukhei who follows along behind him. Doyoung is standing with Ten and Yuta who are brushing sand off him while he pouts.

“I can’t believe Hendery really beat me,” Doyoung mutters. “And now I’m covered in sand. This is some bullshit.”

“I told you not to take him on and you went and pulled a me,” Ten scolds. “I’m the one that doesn’t listen to common sense in this relationship.” Ten stands on his tip toes and presses a kiss to Doyoung’s temple and Yuta offers a few head pats.

“I lowkey wish I had been paying enough attention to that to see Doyoung get his ass beat,” Yukhei mumbles. “It won’t surprise you that Hendery is also suspicious to me I’m sure.” Jaehyun sighs. No, he is not surprised in the least.

“Please don’t tell me you think Hendery is Bigfoot,” Jaehyun replies, still far enough away from Doyoung and co. to not have heard their thoughts on the matter. For a moment Yukhei doesn’t reply and Jaehyun turns to look at him.

“You said don’t tell you.” Okay, maybe Yukhei has a point with that.

“Anyways, I think we are all ready to go,” Jaehyun says. 

“Epic, I have my keys, so let's’ blast.”

Yuta leads the four of them back to his car and there’s a rigorous sand test they have to pass before they can get in the car. Of course it takes Doyoung several minutes to be ruled sand free enough to climb in despite Ten and Yuta brushing him off once already. 

Jaehyun takes his spot in the front seat and Yuta hops in the driver's seat, pulling out of there in no time and driving the seven minutes it takes to arrive at K-Mart. 

“Okay, Ten, you already know what we need to get, right?” Yuta asks and Ten nods. “Great. Onward!”

They all climb out of the car and it’s somehow colder here than by the beach. Jaehyun’s sandals aren’t doing much for protection from the snow and his choice of clothing gets him a few confused looks from locals. 

Yuta grabs a shopping cart and then they all head inside which is far warmer than the outside or the beach. That makes it feel almost hot, but Jaehyun knows once he goes back outside that he’s going to be extra cold. 

Ten guides them through the store, grabbing things as he sees fit and giving no explanation for. Yuta doesn’t question him and it’s his money, so Ten must be buying things that are actually helpful for cooking. 

Jaehyun’s eyes lock on a four pack of Red Bull and he grabs it, but doesn’t place it in the cart. Instead, he looks at Yuta with puppy eyes until Yuta notices.

“Okay, fine, you can get Red Bull,” Yuta relents. “Just don’t drink it late tonight and then refuse to sleep.” 

“Done.” Jaehyun sets the Red Bull in the cart and glances around. Yukhei is looking over some fruit with Ten and Doyoung had been sent away to get bread, so no one is really paying attention to them. “Yuta.” Yuta turns his head toward Jaehyun who’s now standing right next to him and without thinking, Jaehyun leans over and gives Yuta a kiss on the cheek. 

“Oh.” Yuta sounds surprised and his hand comes to hold his cheek, face turning pink. “Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome,” Jaehyun replies, feeling a bit smug for making Yuta embarrassed.

* * *

Once they get home, Jaehyun swallows down his fear and decides he should try to sort things out with Yuta before dinner. Ten has already made it very clear that Yuta is to stay away from the kitchen, so they’re idling in the living room.

“Hey Yuta?” Yuta turns when he hears his name. “Can we talk upstairs?” Yuta seems to get what Jaehyun is actually asking and gestures for them to head upstairs.

“Okay, so we probably don’t have a ton of time as evidenced by last night,” Yuta begins once they are sitting on their bed. “But I really like you and have for awhile.” 

“I feel the same, but you’re about to graduate in like six months and it might be more planning for something that won’t happen, but I’d really like for you to apply wherever you want and not factor me into it really,” Jaehyun says and Yuta’s expression turns sour.

“Doyoung said something to you, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, he did.” 

“It’s nice intentioned, but I’ve been considering the community option long before I knew you,” Yuta says, biting the inside of his cheek. 

“I know, but he said you won’t submit your application somewhere that you also really want to go with Ten,” Jaehyun begins. “And I’m not asking you to change your life for me. Quite the opposite. So if community is right for you, I’ll happily support that. I just think you should submit the application so you can think it over for a while longer. That’s all.” Jaehyun bites his lip while he waits for an answer from Yuta.

“I’ll submit the app,” Yuta mumbles. “You’re right about it not being a commitment, but I’m worried Ten will view it as one.”

“If Ten is your best friend, then he’ll support you no matter what you choose to do.” It’s something that lots of people say at lots of different times, but the words still seem to resonate with Yuta. 

“Yeah, I know he will, but I don’t want to let him down.” Yuta sighs and looks at Jaehyun. “I’m afraid I’m not ready to grow up.”

“I’m younger than you so I can’t tell you for sure that it will all be sunshine and rainbows, but I can tell you that you’re really strong and I admire you so much for your passion. Both of those things will help you become an adult and if things go wrong you’ll have Ten by your side y’know.” They are sitting side by side; hip to hip and that’s the final straw for Yuta.

“Jaehyun, can I kiss you?” Yuta asks. “I don’t like growing up as a subject but I know deep down you’re right— and I don’t have the words to tell you that.” 

“Come here then.” Yuta cups Jaehyun’s jaw, bringing them face to face and doesn’t wait any time before pulling Jaehyun in for a searing kiss. Jaehyun’s lips feel electric with desire and he puts his arms around Yuta’s shoulders, kissing back with everything that he has. There’s butterflies in Jaehyun’s stomach and fireworks in his chest as he kisses Yuta, giving him complete control of the kiss.

Someone starts walking up the stairs, so they pull apart, but this time instead of jumping away, they stay seated next to each other. It’s only Doyoung, so neither of them try to look inconspicuous at all.

“Ten says that dinner will be ready in thirty minutes,” Doyoung says. “I don’t know why I have to tell people this, but I suspect it’s because he wants me out of the kitchen.” He heads back downstairs with an eye roll.

“Maybe we should go downstairs then?” Jaehyun suggests.

“Can I get one more kiss before that though?” Jaehyun smiles and presses a quick kiss to Yuta’s lip who smiles. “Okay, lets go.”

* * *

After dinner, Yuta and Jaehyun skip out on a movie and instead decide to cuddle upstairs and spend some time together. Yuta likes to draw shapes on Jaehyun’s skin with his fingers which constantly makes Jaehyun giggle.

“I’m ticklish,” Jaehyun whines.

“You’re such a baby,” Yuta mumbles, but he’s still smiling. “I just think you’re pretty and I wish I could paint you, but I’m not that talented.” Jaehyun blushes and shoves his face into Yuta’s neck. 

“It’s like you’re trying to make me embarrassed,” Jaehyun whispers.

“What if I am?” Yuta cards his fingers through Jaehyun’s hair, the only part of him visible outside of the blanket. “You’re too cute when you blush, so I got to take advantage.”

“Do you though?”

“Yes, this isn’t up for debate.” Yuta presses a kiss to the top of Jaehyun’s head causing Jaehyun to wriggle in his hold. 

“This is ridiculous.” 

“Uh huh, now accept my love.” Yuta pulls Jaehyun in closer and Jaehyun smiles, feeling quite cozy in Yuta’s arms. Also quite sleepy but Jaehyun can ignore that for now. He nuzzles his face into Yuta’s shirt, smiling. 

They fall asleep together before anyone makes it back upstairs, but Jaehyun couldn’t care less if someone saw him. Yuta is his boyfriend. 

* * *

The next day, they go into the woods, thankfully dressed appropriately. Jaehyun wraps himself in two jackets, a scarf and a beanie since he’s not messing with the weather today. How it can drop twenty degrees overnight, Jaehyun will never understand. 

Yuta is dressed similarly but he isn’t wearing a scarf and has gloves on. He messes with Jaehyun’s scarf while they are standing on the edge of the woods before sparing a quick glance around before pressing a kiss to Jaehyun’s nose. Jaehyun smiles and Yuta pokes a gloved finger into one of his dimples.

“Remind me why we are in the woods?” Jaehyun asks.

“Rumor has it that Tessie can take a more humanoid form during the winter. I don’t really believe it because why would she want to walk around in the woods when it’s cold as balls?”

“Yet you like to go in the lake when it’s still ungodly cold,” Jaehyun teases and Yuta rolls his eyes.

“That’s completely different.” Jaehyun raises a brow. “Okay, maybe not that different, but I don’t want to go into monster hunting mode right now. Yukhei is doing my job better than I ever could.”

“Do you think he’s going to run the club after you graduate?” Jaehyun still has his senior year ahead of him and as much of a hot mess that this club is, he might consider sticking around if Yukhei runs it since he’s quite entertaining.

“Yeah, I think I’ll pass it down to him since he has the most passion and might actually attract freshmen next year,” Yuta says. “He’d do a really good job, but don’t tell him yet.”

“Can do. Now are we going to stand on the edge of the woods all day or are we going to go hunt Bigfoot?” Yuta bursts out laughing and interlaces his hand with Jaehyun, pulling him further into the forest.

“I can’t believe you just called Tessie Bigfoot,” Yuta mumbles, still laughing a bit. “I have a feeling she’d be offended by that.” 

“Is Bigfoot at the bottom of the totem pole in terms of supernatural creatures or what?” Jaehyun huffs out a breath, visible in the cold air. “This is the second or third time that there has been Bigfoot slander in this club.”

“Are you friends with Bigfoot or something?” Yuta counters. “Better yet; are  _ you _ Bigfoot?”

“Absolutely not,” Jaehyun sputters out. “I’m just curious because you would think that you would like all supernatural creatures equally.”

“You would be wrong then. Bigfoot is the most common supernatural creature and has been used to disprove the fact that real supernatural creatures exist for years and years,” Yuta points out.

“I suppose that’s a good point, but also, I still think none of these creatures exist.” They continue to walk through the snow. 

“Yeah, but one day I will disprove you,” Yuta sing-songs. “I’m still holding you to the bet.” Jaehyun stops and leans against one of the trees. Everyone else is farther into the woods so Jaehyun has no qualms with holding his hands out to Yuta.

“We bet a kiss, but you can kiss me whenever you want. In fact— you should kiss me right now.” Yuta smiles and takes Jaehyun’s hands in his, coming to stand right in front of Jaehyun.

“I can certainly do that.” Yuta’s mouth hovers over Jaehyun’s for a second before coming in to kiss him. Their lips meet and Jaehyun squeezes Yuta’s hands. It’s a soft kiss, one that has butterflies blooming out of their cocoons in Jaehyun’s stomach. 

“You’re such a good kisser,” Jaehyun mumbles against Yuta’s lips.

“Why thank you,” Yuta replies, mouth curling into a smile. “Do you think we should go check on everyone now?”

“Probably.” 

* * *

Jaehyun and Yuta keep things subtle for the rest of the afternoon and through dinner, but Ten gives them a few suspicious looks now and then. No one else, including Doyoung, don’t even look at them twice though.

Everything is smooth through bedtime, so Yuta and Jaehyun end up curled in bed with each other early. But neither of them fall asleep immediately. Instead, they curl up with each other, face to face.

“I think we should sneak out,” Yuta whispers. “It could be fun.”

“Where to?” Jaehyun asks, hand thumbing over Yuta’s hip under the blankets.

“The lake. It’s really pretty at night and we wouldn’t go out there for very long. Just long enough to go look at the moon.” Jaehyun considers it for a moment. What does he really have to lose?

“Alright, lets go.” Yuta nearly leaps out of bed and Jaehyun shushes him, so they don’t wake Sicheng in the dark. “Do we need to put on something other than pajamas?”

“Just throw on an extra sweatshirt and that should be good enough,” Yuta says, rustling through his stuff. Jaehyun nods and grabs two extra jackets just to be on the safe side. “Alright, now we just need to walk out of the house without waking anyone up.”

“I don’t think any of them are light sleepers, so we should be good.” 

“Yeah, I know Yukhei sleeps like the dead.” Yuta takes the first few steps down the stairs, watching ahead while Jaehyun takes it one stair at a time, slow and steady. Jaehyun steps onto the fourth step and hears a creak, so he freezes and Yuta shoots him a look in the dark. 

“Sorry,” Jaehyun whispers as quietly as he can. He takes another step which doesn’t creak thank goodness. Yuta makes it all the way down the stairs before Jaehyun has made it halfway and he’s tempted to jump down the rest of the stairs— because he so could— but that would make quite a bit of noise. So he takes the last few steps just as slowly as the rest.

Eventually he makes it to the bottom and tip toes behind Yuta past the sleeping kids. Jaehyun practically holds his breath as he walks past Taeil’s room. Yuta opens the front door as quietly as he can and holds it open for Jaehyun who steps out onto the snow covered porch. Yuta closes the door behind him and lets out a breath.

“We made it,” Yuta says. 

“Yeah, now let's go to your car since I’m sure it’s less than twenty degrees right now and I’m going to freeze if we don’t hurry,” Jaehyun replies, teeth chattering. 

“Let’s go.” Yuta takes Jaehyun by the hand and they walk to his car in the moonlight. “It’s freezing, but I’m glad you agreed to sneak out with me.”

“It’s fun and I’m being warmed by all of the adrenaline from sneaking around.” Yuta squeezes Jaehyun’s hand before dropping it to climb in the car and Jaehyun gets into the passenger seat. There’s snow on the windows again, so Yuta starts the car but doesn’t back up. “How cold is it by the lake do you think?”

“Probably very cold, but trust me— the view is worth it.”

Once the windows are clear, Yuta backs out and drives them back to the beach. True to his word, it’s probably five degrees colder on the beach, but Yuta is also right that the view is worth it. They’re sitting side by side on the cold sand of the beach while holding hands.

“It’s beautiful out here,” Jaehyun says. His breath is visible in the cold air so he scooches a little closer to Yuta. 

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” 

They sit there in silence for a few minutes, simply watching the moon on the water. Jaehyun leans his head on Yuta’s shoulder and sighs. He’s cold but content here. Yuta squeezes Jaehyun’s hand and Jaehyun tilts his head to press a kiss to the underside of Yuta’s jaw.

“You know what else is beautiful,” Jaehyun begins, staring at the water. He’s not really one to be cheesy, but this seems to fit the moment. But before he can finish his sentence, Yuta jolts forward.

“Holy crap did you see that?” Yuta asks. Yeah, Jaehyun saw that. He saw something that looked suspiciously like motherfucking Mothman fly across the lake.

“Jesus Christ,” Jaehyun mutters. 

“I can’t believe we just saw Mothman,” Yuta whisper-screams. Jaehyun doesn’t think before he stands up and clears his throat.

“Sicheng?” Jaehyun calls and Yuta makes a muffled sound of disbelief. “Sicheng, is that you?”

“Jaehyun, are you for real right now?” Yuta asks, practically laughing. “Sicheng isn’t Mothman.” Jaehyun furrows his brows and looks out at the lake.

“Yukhei told me that he thinks you’re sexy,” Jaehyun yells out and Yuta continues to laugh.

With a strong gust of wind, Mothman flies onto the sand. He lands on his feet and sand flies everywhere which shuts up Yuta’s laughing in an instant. Jaehyun really didn’t think that would work, but he owed it to himself and Yukhei to check.

“He did?” Mothman asks and Jaehyun didn’t think it was possible for a flying moth creature to give coochie eyes, but that’s exactly what Jaehyun is looking at; Mothman coochie eyes. 

“Sicheng!?” Yuta exclaims, looking completely shocked.

“Oops.” Sicheng sits down crisscross in front of Jaehyun and Yuta. “I really figured you would have caught on by now.” Jaehyun still hasn’t gotten over the fact that he’s staring at a seven foot moth man and that said moth man is Sicheng.

“How did Yukhei figure it out?” Yuta asks. “And how do you look almost exactly like you did on Halloween?” Sicheng, in his Mothman form laughs which sounds a bit like a grasshopper buzzing.

“He’s just smarter than the rest of you, I don’t know. And as for the costume stuff, I have been caught on film before so that’s where Yukhei took his inspiration I assume and he just happened to make the correct creative choices. Quite genius honestly,” Sicheng explains.

“I’m sorry, but you mean to tell me that you sat through a presentation about yourself?” Jaehyun blurts out. “How did you manage not to tell anyone?”

“I found it too funny that none of you believed Yukhei, so why would I mess with that?” Sicheng counters. “I’m just out tonight to catch up with Tessie. She’s quite a peach I must admit and she keeps saying I need to come visit her more often.” 

“You know the Tahoe Tessie?” Yuta’s jaw is full on hanging open and Jaehyun would normally make fun of him for that if he weren’t in the exact same position.

“Yeah, we’re good friends.”

“Okay, but are you friends with Bigfoot?” Jaehyun asks.

“No, but I know Tessie is close with him.” Sicheng bats his giant moth eyes and Jaehyun shudders. He’s genuinely unsettling to some degree even though Jaehyun knows that it’s only Sicheng. 

“Does that mean we can actually meet Tessie?” Yuta looks just about ready to beg to sell it. “It would be a great way to prove that we aren’t crazy after all.” Sicheng looks uncertain— or that could be his resting face, Jaehyun has no clue because Sicheng is fucking Mothman. 

“She’s not fond of people, but as long as you all promise not to take photos and can come out here tonight, she should be okay with it,” Sicheng says. “Let me go ask and you can call everyone down here. At the very least, I’ll come out as Mothman, so it’s not a waste of their time.” 

“Man, the look on Doyoung’s face is going to be priceless,” Yuta mumbles, pulling out his phone and dialing a number. Sicheng stands up and takes flight across the lake while Jaehyun sits there and watches.

“Okay, but the look on Yukhei’s face,” he counters.

“You raise a good point.” Jaehyun can hear the phone ringing and Yuta mumbling under his breath for Ten to answer his goddamn phone. “Hi Ten—” There’s some sounds of anger and distress, but Yuta only rolls his eyes. “I have proof that Mothman is real.” Suddenly the angry yelling stops. “Yes, I swear to god. I’m at the lake with Jaehyun right now, so pile everyone in the car or just walk here I don’t know— point is for you to get down here ASAP.” Yuta hangs up the phone and turns to Jaehyun.

“I assume Ten doesn’t like people disrupting his beauty sleep,” Jaehyun says.

“Nope, but he’s going to get everyone down here in less than twenty minutes or his name isn’t Ten, which legally it isn’t but it’s the spirit that counts.” Jaehyun snorts and lays down on the sand.

“This the weirdest winter break I’ve ever had.” 

“Yeah, same here, but I have a cute boyfriend to show for it.” Yuta leans down and gives Jaehyun a soft kiss which Jaehyun reciprocates easily. After a moment, Jaehyun smiles into the kiss, essentially breaking it. 

“You know what I was going to say before Sicheng the Mothman showed up?” Jaehyun asks.

“What?”

“I was trying to say that you’re beautiful— more beautiful than the moon and all the stars.” Yuta blushes and swats at Jaehyun’s chest.

“That’s so sappy; I love it.” Jaehyun smiles and pulls Yuta into another kiss. They stay like that, kissing and giggling amongst themselves until they hear Ten and Yukhei charging down the beach. 

“What do you mean you found Mothman?” Yukhei shrieks. Jaehyun and Yuta separate and jump up. Ten is still in his pajamas, but looks mildly feral. The rest of the club comes onto the beach after them, all looking much more sleep deprived than Ten or Yukhei.

“We found Mothman,” Jaehyun says. It feels so odd to say as literally earlier today he was saying how there’s no way that supernatural creatures exist, yet here he is. 

“Okay, now where is he?” Ten asks. “I got out of bed at one in the morning for this, so it better be good.” 

“Trust us,” Yuta reassures. “Mothman needs to get his ass back over here before I spoil things.” That seems to get Sicheng’s attention and he flies over, skewing sand everywhere again. Ten and Yukhei both scream and grab hands, jumping up and down.

“That’s motherfucking Mothman!” Ten exclaims. 

“Yes, that’s why we brought you here.” Jaehyun turns to Sicheng. “Mothman would you like to introduce yourself?” 

“Hi guys, it’s me, Sicheng.” Jaehyun makes sure that his eyes are trained on Yukhei and he’s right, his reaction really is priceless. Yukhei’s jaw drops and he points at Sicheng for a moment.

“Are you kidding me?” Yukhei exclaims. “I was right! All of you can suck it!” Jaehyun snorts. Yeah, they all had this coming, but this also doesn’t mean that Jaehyun is going to blindly believe Yukhei’s other conspiracy theories, unless there is pizza and a statue to back them up. 

Jaehyun spares a glance at Doyoung who looks like he’s just seen a ghost, which in many ways he had. Namely in the way that he’s seeing something that twenty minutes ago was sure didn’t exist. It’s quite eye opening and Jaehyun doesn’t want to think about the overall implications of Mothman, the Tahoe Tessie and Bigfoot all being real. 

“Anyway,” Sicheng says. “Tessie agreed to say hi as long as none of you take any photos or videos.” It’s not possible for anyone’s jaw to drop any farther open, but if it were, everyone’s jaws would be on the floor. “Tessie, you can come out now.” 

A large blue head pops out of the water and Yuta gasps, clutching Jaehyun’s shoulder. The rest of her neck appears and she’s huge honestly. Tessie has to be quite a ways out on the lake to even surface, but she’s still clear as day. 

“I don’t believe it,” Yuta mumbles. “I was right all along.” Everyone is still standing there in awe of Tessie who splashes the water around her as if to say hi.

“Yeah, you were,” Jaehyun admits. He’s not going to go so far as to say ghosts are real, but he’s willing to make some sacrifices here.

“So I take it you believe me about the supernatural being real now?” Yuta asks, turning to Jaehyun.

“I certainly believe you about Mothman, the Tahoe Tessie and about Bigfoot. I’m going to need proof for the other things,” Jaehyun says and Yuta’s jaw drops right back open.

“There is an honest to god sea monster in front of us and you’re trying to say that I’m still only partially right?” Yuta tuts and turns back to Tessie while Jaehyun rolls his eyes lightheartedly. 

“If you bring me a convincing case, maybe I’ll believe you without making you introduce me to them.” Jaehyun hums and without looking, he already knows that Yuta is pouting. “You’re not going to make me believe in ghosts overnight.” 

“What about Wendigos?”

“What the fuck is a Wendigo?”

“A cannibal creature that lives in the woods.” Jaehyun turns to Yuta and gives him a pointed look. “Okay, maybe we’ll just take it one step at a time.” 

“Much better.” 

Tessie gives one more splash before diving back underwater and once again all of the attention is on Sicheng. He doesn’t seem too pleased by that and crosses his arms across his chest, wings nearly brushing the floor.

“Y’all got to stop looking at me weird or I’m giving every creature I know your addresses to terrorize you. I swear I will,” Sicheng threatens. 

“Okay, but you just revealed that you’re Mothman,” Yukhei counters. “That’s pretty mind blowing to everyone except me who has known all along.

“Yukhei, I will swat you right now. I’m seven feet tall and you are just pushing six.” Sicheng swipes at Yukhei and he ducks and starts to run back down the beach, so Sicheng takes off after him. At least that’s back to normal.

“Well, thanks for dragging us out at ass o’clock, but I’m about to pass out,” Ten says. “I propose we all go back to the cabin and get some sleep and then deal with this revelation tomorrow.” Everyone seems to be in agreement with that, so they walk back to their cars.

Sicheng, who’s now in human form, and Yukhei are standing together, both looking like they are on the verge of fighting the other. Yuta ushers them into the car then calls over Ten and Doyoung before climbing in the driver's seat while Jaehyun hops in front.

“So are you two dating yet?” Sicheng asks from the back. Jaehyun facepalms and swallows his nerves.

“Yeah, we are,” Jaehyun replies. Ten makes a pleased sound and Jaehyun refuses to acknowledge it.

“Finally. I thought you two were never going to confess because it’s really obvious.” Coming from Sicheng that’s a bit ridiculous considering him and Yukhei have been much more obvious than Jaehyun and Yuta ever were. 

They get back to the cabin and everyone files into bed, though there’s still some chatter from the people who are now too amped to sleep. Jaehyun feels exhausted and while he has a million questions for Sicheng, he doesn’t have nearly as many as he knows Yuta has, so he’ll wait until tomorrow.

“For the record,” Sicheng begins once they are all upstairs. “I don’t bite in my sleep. The worst that would happen is that you end up smelling like mothballs.” Yuta makes a strangled sound in the back of his throat and Jaehyun laughs.

“Good to know.” 

Everyone climbs into bed and they all say goodnight. Sicheng’s breath evens out within a few minutes while Jaehyun and Yuta are back in the same position they were in earlier. Yuta runs his thumb over Jaehyun’s hip bone while Jaehyun plays with Yuta’s hair.

“Thanks for making me join your club,” Jaehyun says. Yuta smiles and hides his face in Jaehyun’s chest.

“At least me being ballsy as fuck paid off.” 

“I would say it more than paid off as now you’re my boyfriend and without me being just a tiny bit convinced by Yukhei, you wouldn’t have proven that some supernatural creatures exist.” 

“Some,” Yuta repeats.

“Yes, some.” 

“If I let you off the hook for not believing in all the supernatural creatures that definitely exist, can I have a kiss?” Yuta pulls his head out of Jaehyun’s chest and looks up at him.

“Sounds fair to me.” Jaehyun angles Yuta’s face a bit before diving in for a kiss. The butterflies and fireworks come back nearly immediately and Jaehyun tries to ignore them, pulling Yuta closer instead. Yuta kisses back lazily, letting his tongue dip into Jaehyun’s mouth. 

They lay there kissing until their eyes grow tired and they drift to sleep in each other's arms, happy to have found each other even under such strange circumstances.

**Author's Note:**

> post reveals i will put a link to the presentation yukhei gives BECAUSE ITS REAL AND MY FRIEND FUCKING MADE ONE and everyone should see it
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/occultclysms)  
> [Curious Cat](https://curiouscat.qa/carrotyeol)  
> [yukhei's presentation](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/12jO0FLIBHxSbjrLLe9ZFh1s3dmHqAbI8GrPuqMA6ssg/edit?usp=sharing)


End file.
